Huawei chip architect Tingbo He publishes third paper on 'τ-law', says 3D-stacked chip runs cooler despite transistor density jump
Tingbo He, head of semiconductor research at Huawei Technologies, published a new academic paper on Thursday addressing concerns about heat dissipation in 3D-stacked chips, marking the company’s third paper on its “τ-law” chip design philosophy in less than four months. The latest paper, titled “Huawei’s τ Chip Was Supposed to Melt?”, responds to scepticism that folding circuits into three dimensions would inevitably lead to higher power density and thermal issues. “Heat is the most troublesome hidden concern of the τ-law,” She wrote. “Inside the chip, the main energy consumption does not come from computation itself, but from data transfer.” Contrary to expectations that circuit folding would dramatically increase transistor density and power density, the paper argues that folding actually reduces...
