Three-Dimensional Chip-Multiprocessor Run-Time Thermal Management

Three-dimensional integration has the potential to improve the communication latency and integration density of Chip-level MultiProcessors (CMPs). However, the stacked highpower density layers of 3-D CMPs increase the importance and difficulty of thermal management. In this paper, the authors investigate the 3-D CMP run-time thermal management problem and describe efficient management techniques. This paper makes the following main contributions: It identifies and describes the critical concepts required for optimal thermal management, namely the methods by which heterogeneity in both workload power characteristics and processor core thermal characteristics should be exploited; and it proposes an efficient proactive continuously engaged hardware and operating system thermal management technique governed by optimal thermal management polices.