PAMELA: a Panoramic Approach to the Many-CorE LAndsape - from end-user to end-device: a holistic game-changing approach

The last decade has seen a significant shift in the way computers are designed. Up to the turn of the millennium advances in performance were achieved by making a single processor, which could execute a single program at a time, go faster, usually by increasing the frequency of its clock signal. But shortly after the turn of the millennium it became clear that this approach was running into a brick wall - the faster clock meant the processor got hotter, and the amount of heat that can be dissipated in a silicon chip before it fails is limited; that limit was approaching rapidly!

Quite suddenly several high-profile projects were cancelled and the industry found a new approach to higher performance. Instead of making one processor go ever faster, the number of processor cores could be increased. Multi-core processors had arrived: first dual core, then quad-core, and so on. As microchip manufacturing capability continues to increase the number of transistors that can be integrated on a single chip, the number of cores continues to rise, and now multi-core is giving way to many-core systems - processors with 10s of cores, running 10s of programs at the same time.

This all seems fine at the hardware level - more transistors means more cores - but this change from one to many programs running at the same time has caused many difficulties for the programmers who develop applications for these new systems. Writing a program that runs on a single core is much better understood than writing a program that is actually 10s of programs running at the same time, interacting with each other in complex and hard-to-predict ways. To make life for the programmer even harder, with many-core systems it is often best not to make all the cores identical; instead, heterogeneous many-core systems offer the promise of much higher efficiency with specialised cores handling specialised parts of the overall program, but this is even harder for the programmer to manage.

The Programme of projects we plan to undertake will bring the most advanced techniques in computer science to bear on this complex problem, focussing particularly on how we can optimise the hardware and software configurations together to address the important application domain of 3D scene understanding. This will enable a future smart phone fitted with a camera to scan a scene and not only to store the picture it sees, but also to understand that the scene includes a house, a tree, and a moving car. In the course of addressing this application we expect to learn a lot about optimising many-core systems that will have wider applicability too, and the prospect of making future electronic products more efficient, more capable, and more useful.

The driving force motivating this project is to make an impact. There are 10 activities through which the potential economic, societal and academic impacts of this project will be realised.

1. Demonstrator systems. To ensure our research has the potential to deliver its promised impact to industry, we will build demonstrator systems capable of showcasing the ideas underpinning our work. Demonstrators will include a vision pipeline on a smartphone, an energy-efficient compiler and virtual machine, and a silicon prototype of processor IP.

2. Innovation workshop. In the final 2 years of the project we will organise 2 workshops through HiPEAC EU Network of Excellence, to disseminate our research to international academics and industry. Such an event typically attracts between 200 and 500 people.

3. Engaging with industrial partners. There are several industrial partners in this project. Their roles are to provide access to specific technologies, where appropriate, and to advise on exploitation and impact potential as the project develops. Where appropriate we will begin steps toward commercialisation via proof of concept pilot projects. We already have this in place with some of our partners.

4. Technology licensing. We will leverage our expertise in this area to ensure that new technologies emerging from our research are transferred to industry through licensing, unless direct spin-out activities are preferred.

5. Spin-out companies. This provides a major pathway to exploitation, commercialising the vision pipeline, processor IP, design tools and JIT technology. If the research in this project is successful, the main pathway to industrial exploitation would be through the formation of a spin-out company based on experience gained from the demonstrator system. We have substantially experience in in KT, have access to over a dozen high-level industrialists and seed investors to guide spinout formation.
Each of the Universities has a professional team in place to enable spinouts.

6. Public engagement. We will continue to use online media to communicate to the academic community and the general public. Our web site will includes copies of all papers and reports, video presentations on our work, and a collection of press releases.

7. Postgraduate skills and training. We believe this project has an important role to play in developing and sustaining the UK skill base in heterogeneous many-cores It is
clear that there is a dire need in UK industry for suitably qualified engineers. This project will educate the next generation of doctoral students. In addition the industrial sponsored PhDs will also have access to mentors within the partner companies to provide advice and feedback on research plans.

8. Research publications. To maximize the academic impact we shall publish our research in the most respected journals and the top conferences in the area. Where permitted, research outputs will be made available on the project web site.

9. Distributing demonstrator systems. Elements of the demonstrator platform will be offered to academic collaborators, in order to stimulate exchange of ideas and generate wider academic impact. In particular we will promote these within the HiPEAC low power eco-system activity managed by Michael O'Boyle and Emre Ozer, ARM.

10. Academic exchange visits. To maximize the academic benefit of our work we shall promote bilateral meetings between our group and other groups in the UK working on relevant and related topics.