AI driven APOLLO predicts processor power consumption

According to Duke, APOLLO uses very little computational power, has been validated on real-world, high-performance microprocessors and could help improve the efficiency and inform the development of new microprocessors.

The approach is detailed in a paper published at MICRO-54: 54th Annual IEEE/ACM International Symposium on Microarchitecture.

“This is an intensively studied problem that has traditionally relied on extra circuitry to address,” said Zhiyao Xie, first author of the paper and a PhD candidate in the laboratory of Yiran Chen, professor of electrical and computer engineering at Duke. “But our approach runs directly on the microprocessor in the background, which opens many new opportunities.”

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Cycles of computations in computer processors are made on the order of three trillion times per second and tracking the power consumed by these transitions is important to maintain the entire chip’s performance and efficiency. If a processor draws too much power, it can overheat and cause damage. Sudden swings in power demand can cause internal electromagnetic complications that can slow the entire processor down.