{"id":452465,"date":"2022-05-24T19:00:57","date_gmt":"2022-05-24T16:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/"},"modified":"2022-05-24T19:00:57","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T16:00:57","slug":"how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/","title":{"rendered":"#How \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d CPUs Could Revolutionize Supercomputers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ccbc4ea4df\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3ccbc4ea4df\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/#%E2%80%9CHow_%E2%80%9CWafer-Scale%E2%80%9D_CPUs_Could_Revolutionize_Supercomputers%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;How \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d CPUs Could Revolutionize Supercomputers&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/#Whats_%E2%80%9CWafer-Scale%E2%80%9D\" >What\u2019s \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/#Wafer-Scale_Chips_Seemed_Impossible\" >Wafer-Scale Chips Seemed Impossible<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/#The_Cerebras_WSE-2\" >The Cerebras WSE-2<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/#The_Advantages_of_Wafer-Scale_CPUs\" >The Advantages of Wafer-Scale CPUs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/how-wafer-scale-cpus-could-revolutionize-supercomputers\/#Wafer-Scale_CPUs_For_the_Rest_of_Us\" >Wafer-Scale CPUs For the Rest of Us?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9CHow_%E2%80%9CWafer-Scale%E2%80%9D_CPUs_Could_Revolutionize_Supercomputers%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;How \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d CPUs Could Revolutionize Supercomputers&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div>\n<figure style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"type:primaryImage wp-image-801809 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/silicon-wafers.jpg?width=398&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 400w, https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/silicon-wafers.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, 400w, 1200w\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/silicon-wafers.jpg?width=1198&amp;trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Microcircuits being manufactured from a silicon wafer.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/silicon-wafers-microcircuits-automation-system-control-1950637291\" data-credittext=\"asharkyu\/Shutterstock.com\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"type:primaryImage imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shutterstock.com\/image-photo\/silicon-wafers-microcircuits-automation-system-control-1950637291\">asharkyu\/Shutterstock.com<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>CPUs have been getting faster over the years thanks to ever-smaller components. But as we\u2019re heading towards the limit of how small circuits can get, where do we go? One answer is to make your chips \u201cwafer-scale\u201d in size.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Whats_%E2%80%9CWafer-Scale%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>What\u2019s \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Integrated circuit devices such as CPUs are created from silicon crystals. To create a device, a huge cylindrical silicon crystal is sliced into circular wafers. Multiple chips are then etched into the surface of the wafer. Once the chips are done, they\u2019re tested to find defective units, and those are marked.<\/p>\n<p>Working chips are cut out of the wafer and packaged as final products to be sold. The \u201cyield\u201d is the number of working chips you get out of a wafer. Any part of the wafer that\u2019s wasted due to failure in the chips or because it\u2019s an off-cut, has to be recouped by the money made from working chips.<\/p>\n<p>A wafer-scale chip uses the <em>whole<\/em> wafer for a single processor. It sounds like a great idea, but there have been a few serious problems.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Wafer-Scale_Chips_Seemed_Impossible\"><\/span>Wafer-Scale Chips Seemed Impossible<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>There have been a few attempts at \u201cintegrating\u201d an entire silicon wafer over the years. The problem is that the process used to make microchips is imperfect. On any completed wafer, there are bound to be flaws.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019ve printed multiple copies of the same chip on a wafer, then a few broken ones aren\u2019t the end of the world. However, a single CPU has to be flawless in order to work. So if you tried to integrate the entire wafer, those unavoidable flaws would make the entire giant chip useless.<\/p>\n<p>To get around this issue, engineers had to rethink how to design a massive processor that\u2019s meant to work as an integrated unit. So far only one company has managed to make a working wafer-scale processor and they had to solve serious technical issues to make it h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Cerebras_WSE-2\"><\/span>The Cerebras WSE-2<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-800375\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Chip-comparison-01.jpeg?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"The Cerebras WSE-2\" width=\"500\" height=\"433\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\">Cerebras<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Cerebras Systems\u2019 <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cerebras.net\/chip\/\">Wafer-Scale Engine 2<\/a> is an absolutely massive chip. It uses a 7nm process, which is similar to 7 and 5-nanometer chips that are in various devices such as smartphones, laptops, and desktop computers.<\/p>\n<p>The WSE-2 is designed as a mesh of cores that are all connected to one another by a massive grid of high-speed interconnections. This network of processor core modules can all communicate, even if some cores are defective. The WSE is designed in such a way that there are more cores than advertised, in line with the expected yield from each wafer. This means that, while every chip has defects on it, they don\u2019t affect the designed performance at all.<\/p>\n<p>The WSE-2 is designed specifically to accelerate AI applications that use a machine learning technique known as \u201cdeep learning\u201c. Compared to current supercomputers used for deep learning tasks, the WSE-2 is orders of magnitude faster, while using less power.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Advantages_of_Wafer-Scale_CPUs\"><\/span>The Advantages of Wafer-Scale CPUs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<figure style=\"width: 500px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-800376 size-full\" data-pagespeed-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Cerebras_Product_CS1-1_1000x1000.png?trim=1,1&amp;bg-color=000&amp;pad=1,1\" alt=\"Cerebras Computer System With Side Panels Open\" width=\"500\" height=\"458\" data-crediturl=\"https:\/\/cerebras.net\/system\/\" data-credittext=\"Cerebras\" src=\"\/pagespeed_static\/1.JiBnMqyl6S.gif\" onload=\"pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\" onerror=\"this.onerror=null;pagespeed.lazyLoadImages.loadIfVisibleAndMaybeBeacon(this);\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"imagecredit\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cerebras.net\/system\/\">Cerebras<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Wafer-scale CPUs solve many of the problems with the current supercomputer design. Supercomputers are built from many smaller simpler computers that are networked together. By carefully designing tasks for this type of design, it\u2019s possible to add all of that computing power together.<\/p>\n<p>However, each computer in that supercomputer array needs its own supporting components, and increasing the distance between the many individual CPU packages in that network introduces many performance issues and limits the types of workloads that can be done in real-time.<\/p>\n<p>A wafer-scale CPU effectively combines the processing power of dozens or hundreds of computers into a single integrated circuit, driven by one power supply, all housed in a single chassis. Even better, you can still network multiple wafer-scale computers together to create a traditional supercomputer, but exponentially faster.<\/p>\n<h2 role=\"heading\" aria-level=\"2\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Wafer-Scale_CPUs_For_the_Rest_of_Us\"><\/span>Wafer-Scale CPUs For the Rest of Us?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019re unlikely to get any sort of wafer-scale product for regular users who aren\u2019t trying to build a supercomputer, but there are elements of the \u201cbigger is better\u201d philosophy evident in consumer electronics too.<\/p>\n<p>A great example is Apple\u2019s M1 Ultra system-on-a-chip (SoC), which is two M1 Max SoCs connected by a high-speed interconnect, which presents as a single system with twice the resources.<\/p>\n<p>AMD\u2019s CPU designs have also taken advantage of \u201c<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nextplatform.com\/2021\/06\/09\/amd-on-why-chiplets-and-why-now\/\">chiplets<\/a>\u201c, which are CPU core units that can be made independently and then \u201cglued\u201d together using another type of high-speed interconnect. Now that circuits may stop getting smaller on CPUs, the time has come to build them out and perhaps even upwards, with complex 3D circuit designs, rather than the more common 2D circuits we use today.<\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <strong><em>Apple&#8217;s M1 Ultra Chip Will Supercharge Mac Desktops<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script>\n setTimeout(function(){\n  !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s)\n  {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\n  n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};\n  if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';\n  n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\n  t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];\n  s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s) } (window, document,'script',\n  'https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n   fbq('init', '335401813750447');\n   fbq('track', 'PageView');\n  },3000);\n<\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/797021\/wafer-scale-cpus-revolutionize-supercomputers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;How \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d CPUs Could Revolutionize Supercomputers&#8221; asharkyu\/Shutterstock.com CPUs have been getting faster over the years thanks to ever-smaller components. But as we\u2019re heading towards the limit of how small circuits can get, where do we go? One answer is to make your chips \u201cwafer-scale\u201d in size. What\u2019s \u201cWafer-Scale\u201d? Integrated circuit devices such as CPUs are&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":452466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.howtogeek.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/silicon-wafers.jpg?height=200p&trim=2,2,2,2","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-452465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=452465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/452465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/452466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=452465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=452465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=452465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}