Splitting the die: a modular approach to chiplet design and verification

AI is driving a shift towards multi-die systems based on chiplets. An open chiplet marketplace will allow OEMs to scale performance and enjoy greater levels of customization and integration at a lower cost than is possible with monolithic silicon designs. For an effective chiplet marketplace to develop, it must be possible for chiplets to be used in multiple systems that are designed independently of the chiplets they’re composed from. Such reuse can only be achieved when chiplets are developed and verified to conform to standards that assure interoperability. This presentation explores the opportunities and the challenges of adapting a monolithic design to a chiplet-based design. It discusses the hierarchy and scope of standards necessary to enable chiplets to be successfully reused in multiple systems and introduces the Arm Chiplet System Architecture, a specification that enables systems based on the Arm architecture to be partitioned to span several dies in a modular and composable way.

Mark Knight is Director of Product Management in the Technology & Architecture Group at Arm, where he oversees chiplet and security architectures. Before joining Arm, he worked at Microsoft, Thales e-Security, and nCipher on secure systems that included mobile devices, cloud computing, and other advanced technologies. He has extensive experience in multi-die systems, IoT security, key management, encryption, and threat analysis. He has published articles in Communications of the ACM and has done extensive blogging on security. Mark earned a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Hertfordshire, UK.