Power, Thermal, and Reliability Modeling in Nanometer-Scale Microprocessors

System integration and performance requirements are dramatically increasing the power consumptions and power densities of high-performance microprocessors; some now consume 100 watts. High power consumption introduces challenges to various aspects of microprocessor and computer system design. It increases the cost of cooling and packaging design, reduces system reliability, complicates power supply circuitry design, and reduces battery life. Researchers have recently dedicated intensive effort to power-related design problems. Modeling is the essential first step toward design optimization. This paper explains the power, thermal, and reliability modeling problems and survey recent advances in their accurate and efficient analysis.