Multicore Trends Follow Performance Demands
Embedded Designs Embrace Multicore Despite Challenges
In its “Embedded Processors, 2010” report, VDC Research offers analysis on the global market demand that shows an increasing trend toward multicore architecture through 2014, following the demand for higher performance. However, the report also indicates that some suppliers of multicore processors are introducing new single- and dual-core products in order to expand into lower power product offerings where performance is a secondary requirement. While VDC expects to see an increase in symmetric multiprocessing (SMP), the company believes that most vendors will still use an asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) configuration. Ultimately, although multicore is a continuing trend, VDC notes that design challenges remain around software debugging, limited tool-kit availability and efforts to run software more efficiently in parallel. EE Catalog talked to Jonathan Hastings, analyst for embedded hardware and systems at VDC Research to get more detail on the trends for multicore embedded designs.
EE Catalog: What are the trends around general-purpose vs. application-specific (or hybrid) multicore processors or GPGPUs in embedded applications?
Jonathan Hastings, VDC Research: The trends really depend on the specific application, but certain I/Os are more widely used for a given target application. In terms of general trends, one is the continuing price-performance-and-power triad of priorities. The better understanding you have of a specific target application, the greater knowledge of when to run certain features of a chip. A second trend is focusing on market size. If a sufficient market size isn’t available, there is no point in creating an application-specific chip. A third trend is focusing on specific performance levels. A broad overarching trend is for technology in all verticals to be connected and networked.
EE Catalog: Are you seeing any clear breakdowns of vertical markets in which specific multicore processor vendors are seeing the greatest success?
Hastings, VDC Research: Certainly, all companies have a natural focus on given markets that they are best aligned with. Freescale for instance has strong penetration in networking, automotive, industrial and consumer markets. NVIDIA is working on expanding its GPU technology into driver-information systems.
EE Catalog: In what application areas/vertical markets are you seeing the greatest growth in use of multicore processors? What is driving those trends?
Hastings, VDC Research: Multicore is important in every vertical out there. One driver is that single-core processors simply cannot provide the performance levels now required by end users. The clock frequency can in theory be increased, but after a certain point you are exceeding the power envelope. However, communications and networking is certainly seeing growth, driven by the large data-processing requirements. The medical market segment is seeing growth due to complex imaging equipment.
EE Catalog: What do see holding back growth?
Hastings, VDC Research: The difficulties associated with porting legacy code to multicore devices. There is a lack of mature software solutions that enable engineers to bring old code into multicore architectures and create new code for these architectures. There is also the tradeoff between flexibility and accelerated performance.
EE Catalog: What trends – and challenges – are you seeing in the evolution of legacy embedded applications to multicore designs?
Hastings, VDC Research: One challenge is harnessing the full software productivity on multicore. Also, many engineers coming out of school are trained for the linear programming of single-core processors and lack experience in parallel programming. Also, until the multicore space fully matures, additional time to market is added by the development of multicore processors.
EE Catalog: The Multicore Association is working to develop specs for communication and resource APIs, as well as tool interaction and programming practices. What other activities do they – or other organizations/companies – need to undertake to support continued growth in multicore designs?
Hastings, VDC Research: Improve the interaction between cores and other resources on the chip. Work with educational institutions to increase the knowledge of multicore in the academic setting and increase the output of college graduates with a “multicore mindset.”
Cheryl Berglund Coupé is Editor of EECatalog.com. Her articles have appeared in EE Times, Electronic Business, Microsoft Embedded Review and Windows Developer’s Journal and she has developed presentations for the Embedded Systems Conference and ICSPAT. She has held a variety of production, technical marketing and writing positions within technology companies and agencies in the Northwest.
