The Open Compute Project is launching an Open Domain-Specific Architecture (ODSA) sub-project to define an open interface and architecture that enables the mixing and matching of available silicon die from different suppliers onto a single SoC for data center applications. The goal is to define a process to integrate best-of-breed chiplets onto a SoC.
Netronome played a lead role initiating the new project.
“The open architecture for domain-specific accelerators being proposed by the ODSA Workgroup brings the benefits of disaggregation to the world of SoCs. The OCP Community led by hyperscale operators has been at the forefront driving disaggregation of server and networking systems. Joining forces with OCP, the ODSA Workgroup brings the next chapter of disaggregation for domain-specific accelerator SoCs as it looks toward enabling proof of concepts and deployable products leveraging OCP’s strong ecosystem of hardware and software developers,” said Sujal Das, chief marketing and strategy officer at Netronome.
"Coincident with the decline of Moore's law, the silicon industry is facing longer development times and significantly increased complexity. We are pleased to see the ODSA Workgroup become a part of the Open Compute Project. We hope workgroup members will help to drive development practices and adoption of best-of-breed chiplets and SoCs. Their collaboration has the potential to further democratize chip development, and ultimately reduce design overhead of domain-specific silicon in emerging use cases,” said Aaron Sullivan, Director Hardware Engineering at Facebook."
https://2019ocpglobalsummit.sched.com/event/JxrZ/open-domain-specific-architecture-odsa-sub-project-launch
Wiki page: https://www.opencompute.org/wiki/Server/ODSA
Mailing list: https://ocp-all.groups.io/g/OCP-ODSA
Netronome proposes open "chiplets" for domain specific workloads
Netronome is collaborating with six leading silicon companies, Achronix, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Kandou, NXP, Sarcina and SiFive, to develop this open architecture and related specifications for developing chiplets that promise to reduce silicon development and manufacturing costs.
The idea is fo chiplet-based silicon to be composed using best-of-breed components such as processors, accelerators, and memory and I/O peripherals using optimal process nodes. The open architecture will provide a complete stack of components (known good die, packaging, interconnect network, software integration stack) that lowers the hardware and software costs of developing and deploying domain-specific accelerator solutions. Implementing open specifications contributed by participating companies, any vendor’s silicon die can become a building block that can be utilized in a chiplet-based SoC design.“Netronome’s domain-specific architecture as used in its Network Flow Processor (NFP) products has been designed from the ground up keeping modularity, and economies of silicon development and manufacturing costs as top of mind,” said Niel Viljoen, founder and CEO at Netronome. “We are extremely excited to collaborate with industry leaders and contribute significant intellectual property and related open specifications derived from the proven NFP products and apply that effectively to the open and composable chiplet-based architecture being developed in the ODSA Workgroup.”
