根據(jù)Nvidia“丹佛計劃”(Project Denver) 即將推出的首款芯片細節(jié)，顯示出計算機領(lǐng)域在未來兩三年將發(fā)生什么變化仍有待觀察。 2007年，Nvidia悄悄地展開了 Project Denver ，邁向一條成為通用微處理器供貨商的漫長艱辛之路。在2011年國際消費電子展(CES)上，Nvidia透露該計劃的目標(biāo)在于開發(fā)出瞄準(zhǔn)從筆記本計算機到 超級計算機應(yīng)用的一系列完整SoC。
而在日前舉辦的2013年度“繪圖處理器技術(shù)大會”(GTC)上，Nvidia透露基于 Project Denver 的首款商用芯片── Parker 將搭載2014年版的 Maxwell GPU 以及全新的64位客制化ARM CPU，預(yù)計2015年上市。
Nvidia對該芯片產(chǎn)品發(fā)布的細節(jié)有限，但分享了對于業(yè)界微處理器發(fā)展藍圖的一些愿景，足以讓我們好好思考計算機產(chǎn)業(yè)的未來發(fā)展方向。
Nvidia的下一重大行動就是明年即將推出的 Logan 。這款 Tegra 5 SoC 將在描準(zhǔn)智能手機和平板電腦開發(fā)的芯片中導(dǎo)入 Kepler GPU 。它將是首款可支持其 Cuda 軟件環(huán)境的ARM行動 SoC，以實現(xiàn)其通用繪圖處理器(GPGPU)的理念。 Cuda 平行運算原本僅用于基于 x86 主機的PC與服務(wù)器中。
Nvidia CEO 黃仁勛介紹首款Project Denver芯片── Parker的開發(fā)藍圖。
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Nvidia 并展示一款搭載 Tegra 3 ARM 處理器與 Kepler GPU 的 Kaylar 主機板原型，可支持 Cuda 與 OpenGL 4.3 執(zhí)行。The Linley Group 公司首席分析師Kevin Krewell認為 Kayla 將可用于為 Logan 進行編程。這款 Kayla 主機板原型預(yù)計將在今年出樣，2014年生產(chǎn)。
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邁向統(tǒng)一內(nèi)存架構(gòu)
Nvidia 的下一代桌上型產(chǎn)品是 Maxwell GPU 。計劃在2014年推出的 Maxwell 將支持可在 GPU 與 ARM CPU 之間共享虛擬內(nèi)存的能力。 針對封裝 GPU 以及ARM或 x86 CPU 的芯片而言，這是簡化編程作業(yè)的一個關(guān)鍵步驟。有鑒于此，AMD還成立了一個異質(zhì)系統(tǒng)架構(gòu)(HSA)基金會，以期建立起開放的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。HSA成員包括 ARM、Imagination Technologies、微軟、高通等公司。
Kevin Krewell與Patrick Moorhead等業(yè)界分析師們預(yù)期，Nvidia可能會將HSA基金會定義的開放技術(shù)應(yīng)用于 Cuda 中。但這有點像英特爾被迫采用64位指令集的情況一樣──由于AMD先定義了可支持微軟的64位 x86 架構(gòu)，而微軟也不愿意為英特爾和AMD分別開發(fā)兩套不同的64位操作系統(tǒng)。
然而，這一次，展開一個全新的架構(gòu)就像是與AMD、Nvidia和英特爾三方為敵相互競爭一樣。據(jù)推測，英特爾打算走自己的路，推出可在繪圖與 x86 核心間共享內(nèi)存的SoC。其中還可能包含英特爾現(xiàn)有 GPU 及其外部 Xeon Phi。但確切的計劃尚未透露。
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事實上，微軟再也不是這個領(lǐng)域中唯一或最大的操作系統(tǒng)供貨商了。Google正計劃以其 Android 加以取代，期望進一步成為未來客戶端計算機的主流。
因此，在邁向共同的架構(gòu)發(fā)展道路上，目前我們已經(jīng)看到三方微處理器競爭陣營以及兩家 OS 競爭供貨商(當(dāng)然如果把蘋果 iOS 也算進去的話就有三家了)。未來在前方的發(fā)展道路上，還將出現(xiàn)更多曲折。
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Parker將選擇哪一種種OS？
Nvidia開發(fā)的 Parker 微處理器將結(jié)合其 Maxwell GPU 以及首款64位ARM CPU 。預(yù)計在2015年發(fā)表的 Parker 將采用Globalfoundries與臺積電(TSMC) 20nm FinFET 制程技術(shù)制造。
當(dāng)然， Parker 將成為智能手機和平板電腦的 Tegra 6 SoC。然而，它是否也將應(yīng)用在筆記本計算機、臺式機或服務(wù)器領(lǐng)域，目前仍不得而知。
微軟專為平板電腦開發(fā)了基于ARM的WindowsRT，至今并未取得什么成績，而且亟需加以大幅改善。微軟至少要在平板電腦市場取得成功后，才可能再推向筆記本計算機和臺式機。
同時，Google Android 系統(tǒng)在筆記本計算機或臺式機上也沒聽說有什么計劃。這一點也不令人意外，因為該公司現(xiàn)在只定位于取得智能手機與平板電腦的主導(dǎo)地位。
Google已經(jīng)嘗試推出一款精簡版 Chrome OS 了，可讓瀏覽器執(zhí)行在基于云端的筆記本計算機上。這項產(chǎn)品目前已經(jīng)推出到第二代了，仍未能獲得多大的吸引力。
但令人玩味的是，執(zhí)行 Chrome OS 計劃的Google公司資深副總裁Sundar Pichai，同時還負責(zé)整并 Chrome OS 和 Android 兩個部門。一手打造 Android 的 Andy Rubin 黯然退場，另尋其它機會。
此外，Nvidia公司還表示將在2015年推出 Volta ，這是采用 TSV 技術(shù)堆棧內(nèi)存的下一代 GPU 。該公司并未透露它是否將采用賽靈思公司率先開發(fā)的 2.5D 技術(shù)──在共同基板的相鄰兩側(cè)或上下堆棧內(nèi)存與 GPU ，以實現(xiàn)更遠大的目標(biāo)。
Nvidia CEO 黃仁勛介紹2015年將推出采用TSV技術(shù)堆棧內(nèi)存的下一代 GPU──Volta。
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分析師指出，在2015年以前，包括AMD和其它廠商都可能開發(fā)出某種形式的 GPU 和內(nèi)存堆棧。但我懷疑沒人知道究竟在2015年時采用 2.5D 或 3D 是否最適合。但由于 EUV 微影技術(shù)延遲導(dǎo)致下一代芯片制程成本越來越高且復(fù)雜，這兩種技術(shù)都將受到更多關(guān)注。
因此，我們在GTC只能掌握到一點點有關(guān)Nvidia在未來幾年的開發(fā)計劃。其結(jié)果是對于未來兩三年內(nèi)客戶端計算機領(lǐng)域?qū)⒊霈F(xiàn)的變化所知仍十分有限，可預(yù)期的是未來仍將充滿變量。
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本文授權(quán)編譯自EE Times，版權(quán)所有，謝絕轉(zhuǎn)載
編譯：Susan Hong
參考英文原文：Nvidia's road to Denver still in the shadows，by Rick Merritt
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Nvidia's road to Denver still in the shadows
Rick Merritt
In 2007, Nvidia quietly began work on Project Denver, starting a long hard climb toward being a supplier of general-purpose microprocessors. At CES in 2011 it revealed the goal of that program was to create a soup-to-nuts family of SoCs serving everything from laptops to supercomputers.
At its annual Graphics Technology Conference (GTC) here Tuesday (March 19) Nvidia revealed the first commercial chip it expects to emerge from that program. The chip, Parker, will arrive in 2015 packing a 2014 graphics core called Maxwell and a new 64-bit custom ARM core.
Details are still scarce, but what Nvidia did share shines just a little light on the microprocessor road map for the industry, enough to give me pause about the future of computing.
Nvidia’s next big move is Logan. This Tegra 5 SoC will put a Kepler-class Nvidia graphics processor in a chip aimed at smartphones and tablets. It will be the first ARM-based mobile SOC to support its Cuda software environment for running general purpose graphics (GPGPU) programs. Previously, Cuda worked in PCs and servers that used an x86 host.
Click on image to enlarge.
Nvidia chief executive Jen-Hsun Huang shows the road to Parker, the first Project Denver chip.
To some extent the part plays catch up with its competitors that already provide similar features using OpenCL, said Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst with The Linley Group (Mountain View, Calif.).
Nvidia demonstrated it already has Cuda running on a new board called Kayla that sports a Kepler graphics chip and Tegra 3 ARM processor. Krewell called Kayla “a science experiment and a software development platform” to seed programming work for Logan which will sample this year and be in production in 2014.
The race to unified memory
The next big step is Maxwell, Nvidia’s next big graphics core. It will arrive in 2014 sporting a capability to share virtual memory between the graphics and ARM host processor.
This is a key step in simplifying the job of programming chips that pack graphics and host ARM or x86 processors. It is so important, AMD launched an alliance called the Heterogeneous Systems Architecture (HSA) group to set open standards for how to do it. HSA includes ARM, Imagination Technologies, Microsoft, Qualcomm and many others.
Analysts such as Krewell and Patrick Moorhead expect Nvidia will probably borrow the open techniques the HSA group defines and plug them into Cuda, using different marketing names. That’s pretty much what Intel did with its 64-bit instructions because AMD defined the 64-bit x86 architecture first working with Microsoft and the Windows giant refused to support two different flavors of the technology in its operating systems.
But this time, the move to a new architecture is a three-way game with AMD, Nvidia and Intel all competing. Presumably Intel is taking its own route to SoCs that share a common pool of cache coherent memory between graphics and x86 cores It likely will embrace both its current on-chip graphics cores and its external Xeon Phi. But it has yet to reveal its exact plans.
There’s another new wrinkle this time. Microsoft is not the only or even the biggest player in operating systems anymore. Google is set to displace it with Android as the client OS observers expect to run in the majority of tomorrow’s client computers.
So we have three competing microprocessor camps and two competing OS providers (three if you count Apple which will do its own thing) all racing toward one common architecture. There could be a lot of twists ahead in this road map.
Parker arrives amid OS uncertainty
For its part, Nvidia will combine its Maxwell graphics core with its first 64-bit ARM core to create Parker in 2015. It will be made in a FinFET process which by then should be readily available as a sort of second-generation 20-nm node from Globalfoundries and TSMC.
Parker will certainly power smartphones and tablets as a Tegra 6. What’s less clear is whether it will have a life in notebooks, desktops or servers.
Microsoft’s WindowsRT for ARM—aimed at tablets--has failed to gain significant traction and badly needs a makeover. Until it gains traction in tablets, Microsoft is not likely to try to drive it into notebooks and desktops. And we are still waiting to hear anything about Windows Server for ARM.
Meanwhile, Google has been mum on any plans for Android in notebooks or desktops. No surprise really--it is only now well positioned for a dominant role in smartphones and tablets.
Google has experimented with a slimmer Chrome OS layer that essentially puts a browser on a cloud-based laptop client. The effort, now in a second generation, has failed to gain much traction.
But, interestingly, the Google exec (Sundar Pichai) who ran the Chrome OS initiative was put in charge of a merged Chrome OS and Android group. Android founder Andy Rubin left the team to explore other opportunities, as the old euphemism goes.
One more wrinkle: Nvidia said in 2015 it will also roll out Volta, a next generation graphics processor using stacked memory with through silicon vias. It did not say if it will use a 2.5-D technology pioneered by Xilinx that lays memory and graphics cores next to each other on a common substrate or actually stack them on top of each other, a more ambitious goal.
Click on image to enlarge.
Huang discloses the 2015 graphics chip Volta chip with stacked memory.
Analysts say AMD and others are likely to do some form of graphics and memory stack by 2015. I suspect no one knows yet whether the 2.5- or 3-D techniques will be the best fit come 2015. But both these techniques are getting a lot of attention as the next steps in silicon process technology become increasingly costly and complex due to the delays in extreme ultraviolet lithography.
So at GTC we learned just a little bit of what Nvidia plans to do over the next couple years. The result is we now see how little we know about what anyone will do in the client computing space for the next two or three years. But we can see it is going to be something of a wild ride.
責(zé)編：Quentin
