Chinese research team succeeds in designing RISC-V CPU about 1000 times faster than human team using AI
Designing something that meets specific requirements is a very advanced ability, but in recent years it has been demonstrated that AI can be used to design new materials, proteins, computer programs, etc. A new Chinese research team has announced that it has succeeded in designing a CPU of the open source instruction set architecture
Pushing the Limits of Machine Design: Automated CPU Design with AI
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2306.12456
Chinese Researchers Used AI to Design RISC-V CPU in Under 5 Hours | Tom's Hardware
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/chinese-researchers-usedai-to-design-industrial-scale-risc-v-cpu-in-under-5-hours
Although the ability to create materials and computer programs using advanced AI has already been demonstrated, the researchers argued that the relatively narrow search space for designing these objects meant that 'machines could be designed like humans.' Can it be done?” is an unsolved problem. Therefore, he says that he decided to let AI design the CPU, which is 'the brain of the computer and one of the most complex devices in the world that mankind has ever designed.'
In order to let AI automatically design a RISC-V CPU, the research team uses only external input/output observations instead of formal program code, and generates the CPU's logic circuit in a graph structure called Binary Speculation Diagram (BSD). adopted the approach. When generating BSD, he said that he guaranteed accuracy and efficiency using Monte Carlo expansion and Boolean functions.
The research team reports that the RISC-V CPU actually automatically designed by AI was manufactured with a 65nm process and operated at a maximum of 300MHz. We also ran the benchmark test
The results of the benchmark test conducted by the research team are as follows. 'CPU-AI' in the center is the RISC-V CPU designed by AI this time, slightly exceeding the A3010 that appeared for hobby PCs in 1992, and having the same performance as the i486SX that appeared in 1991. understand.
In this study, AI was able to automatically design a CPU within just five hours. The research team reports that this is about 1000 times faster than if a human team did the same work.
Some people may think that the CPU developed by AI is only as good as the CPU that appeared in 1991, which is an unsatisfactory result. However, the research team's development of a CPU based solely on input/output observation was a major achievement, commenting, ``Our approach showed that human knowledge about the von Neumann type can be discovered autonomously.'' He argued that AI could be used to significantly shorten CPU design cycles, potentially transforming the semiconductor industry.
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