2018 Volume E101.C Issue 5 Pages 359-369
CMOS microprocessors are limited in their capacity for clock speed improvement because of increasing computing power, i.e., they face a power-wall problem. Single-flux-quantum (SFQ) circuits offer a solution with their ultra-fast-speed and ultra-low-power natures. This paper introduces our contributions towards ultra-high-speed cryogenic SFQ computing. The first step is to design SFQ microprocessors. From qualitatively and quantitatively evaluating past-designed SFQ microprocessors, we have found that revisiting the architecture of SFQ microprocessors and on-chip caches is the first critical challenge. On the basis of cross-layer discussions and analysis, we came to the conclusion that a bit-parallel gate-level pipeline architecture is the best solution for SFQ designs. This paper summarizes our current research results targeting SFQ microprocessors and on-chip cache architectures.
