Cross-layer virtual/physical sensing and actuation for resilient heterogeneous many-core SoCs

• Published in: 2016 21st Asia and South Pacific Design Automation Conference (ASP-DAC) pp. 395 - 402
• Main Authors: Sarma, Santanu, Muck, Tiago, Shoushtari, Majid, BanaiyanMofrad, Abbas, Dutt, Nikil
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: IEEE 01.01.2016
• Subjects: Actuation; Automation; Computation; Computer architecture; Computer programs; Detection; Hardware; Integrated circuit reliability; Quality of service; Resource management; Sensors; Software; System on chip; Virtualization
• ISSN: 2153-697X
• DOI: 10.1109/ASPDAC.2016.7428044

We introduce the concepts of cross-layer virtual/physical sensing and actuation to achieve resiliency for the emerging class of heterogeneous many-core Systems-on-Chip (SoCs). Using the CyberPhysical System-on-Chip (CPSoC) concept as an exemplar sensor-rich many-core heterogeneous computing platform, we illustrate how to intrinsically couple on-chip and cross-layer physical and virtual sensing and actuation applied across different layers of the hardware/software system stack to adaptively achieve desired objectives and Quality-of-Service (QoS). We present two sample use cases that exemplify the cross-layer virtual/physical sensing and actuation approach. First, we present SmartBalance, a cross-layer sensing-driven Linux load balancer for energy efficient task execution on hetergoenous MPSOCs. Second, we present Partially Forgetful Memories, a software/hardware approach that achieves dynamic memory guard-banding for memory resilience and its application for approximate computing.