The UltraC 2 K : A Wire-Intensive Superscalar Processor

The UltraC2K is a superscalar processor whose integer core i s b ing fabricated as part of the SRC/Novellus/UMC Copper IC Design Challenge contest. The UltraC2K has a peak i ssue rate of eight instructions and a sustained issue rate of four instructions. The processor is being fabricate d in a 0.18 M, 1.5V, six-metal-layer low-dielectric Copper process. Its integer core spans only 2000 M by 1500 M (excluding pad frame). Based on our simulations, its clock rate reaches 700MHz. We have taken a number of shortcuts in order to meet the contes t’s constraints. In order to meet design time constraint, we have not implemented floating point, interrupts , or a privileged mode. In order to meet the area constraint, we have chosen a RISC instruction set with only 16 32-bit regi st rs. 1