the fastest microprocessor in the world, but could we still do it knowing that we faced this ridiculously low power budget? We didn’t know yet what raw frequency (measured in gigahertz) would describe the top speed of our microprocessor, but now we knew that, at least for the game console application, it would be constrained by this maximum operating power. What would happen if we failed to meet the power goal? Major malfunction resulting in either a hang or an automatic shutdown. Or picture little Johnny game-player running to Mom when his game console burned a hole in his desk. Or worse, console meltdown. The images weren’t pretty. The faster a chip runs, the more heat it generates, so to avoid a meltdown, we have to either remove all that heat, or run it at a slower speed. Two terms that don’t normally go hand in hand are high speed and low power. Seventy-five watts was going to be really tough.
Still, I wanted to believe Kahle when he encouraged the team as we adjourned: “Guys, I don’t know how we’re going to get there, but we’re going to do it.”
Dr. Hofstee was finally ready to present his competitive analysis to Akrout and the team. I had previewed the data during the course of his research, and I was anxious to hear the most recent stuff. He had studied the trends for chip frequencies, primarily dictated by Intel. Detailed graphs showed his predictions of what current and future technologies could achieve. Part science and part science fiction, his analysis was a combination of what the physics of technology could deliver and what smart engineering could achieve. Intel was always the benchmark. There was no other game in town.
I had done some comparison studies in the past, much like Hofstee’s task, so I was well aware of what a struggle it was to compare the different microprocessor designs (apples and oranges) on the market. Each one, shrouded in secrecy, manufactured in a different fabrication facility, used a different process. Details were scarce. As much as the efficiency of the design, the silicon manufacturing technology also determined the achievable frequency for the chip. It defined the minimum size of the transistor, the fundamental switching device in a design. Transistors became smaller and smaller as technologies evolved, and smaller meant faster.
We gathered in Akrout’s executive conference room with its subdued sage green against natural maple, smoky shaded windows, automatically dimming recessed lighting, and luxuriously upholstered chairs that swiveled, tilted, adjusted, and rocked into no less than twenty-four different positions. Hofstee prepared to present his work. Jim Kahle and I walked in together, both dressed in sandals and shorts in celebration of the last days of summer. I lounged in the back of the room as usual and tilted my chair against the wall. Kahle moved to the front of the room and sat across the table from Akrout, who was already warming up the crowd. He was in prime form, chatting with each attendee as he or she entered the room, laughing with Kahle, greeting those who were attending by phone. About twelve other technical leads and a few managers sat at the table or on either side of the room against the walls. Jim Warnock, a newly appointed Distinguished Engineer who had recently joined Akrout’s staff, flew down from IBM’s Research Division in Yorktown just for this meeting. All the attendees were IBMers and all were male except for Mickie Phipps, Kathy Papermaster, and Linda Van Grinsven, three of the managers who were now responsible for the multicorporation design teams.
Akrout stood and put a hand on Hofstee’s shoulder. “I asked Peter to research our competition, and he is ready to present his findings. This is my first time to see his data, too. What do we have to do to beat Intel? Where do we set the bar? Listen closely, for you are the ones,” he paused to point around the room at us, “who will determine whether we succeed or fail at this endeavor.” Through a wiring hub in the center of the conference table, Hofstee connected his laptop to the top-of-the-line projector suspended from the ceiling above the table. He looked more like a college student than the veteran engineer he was. Tall and lanky, perfectly straight sandy-red hair cut fashionably long, an open expressive face. He rubbed long-fingered hands together and clicked the button to pull up his introductory slide. Years of experience standing before engineering students gave him confidence and style. He carefully worked his way through a series of charts and graphs, clearly and methodically building the case to support his conclusions.
Akrout sat forward in his chair, intensely focused on the data Hofstee presented. Occasionally, he pointed to the screen and asked in his shortened version of English, “Why that?”
Questions were raised, interruptions were tolerated. Hofstee captured our complete attention. It was a topic of extreme importance to each one of us, as the conclusion of this meeting could very well dictate our workload for the next two to three years.
“When the STI project started in 2001,” Hofstee said, “the best of breed in the industry was the Intel Pentium4 microprocessor. It topped out at about 1.5 gigahertz in a high-end PC. That design has eighteen FO4 gate delays in the basic pipeline. However, an inner integer core in the Pentium4 executes at nine FO4, or twice that speed!” He illustrated this point with a detailed diagram showing how Intel’s design frequencies improved year to year. “Based on this data,” Hofstee concluded, “Intel could very well produce a microprocessor in the 2005 timeframe that could achieve nine to ten FO4 and over four gigahertz, so to be competitive in this timeframe, we need to match that frequency in our seventy-five-watt power budget. We need a ten FO4, four gigahertz frequency!”
The room exploded. It seemed impossible!
I took Hofstee to task over a few of his basic assumptions, and he gave reasonable and believable explanations. Others argued back and forth about his predictions for Intel’s ability to make such rapid improvements in the frequency of their chips.
There was much skepticism and vocal opposition from Warnock. “I am very certain four gigahertz will push the chip power well beyond the seventy-five-watt power target, but even so, I doubt we can ever come close to achieving the frequency goal anyway. You’ll only demoralize the team if you present them with this unachievable goal.”
Other naysayers joined in, voicing opinions that bespoke worry about the team, or about the accuracy of Hofstee’s predictions, or the lunacy of reaching for the stars. The din in the conference room grew louder and louder.
Hofstee spoke clearly and loudly over the roar of discussion: “Guys, guys!” He held out his hands, patting them up and down like a priest bestowing blessings on his congregation. The roar dropped down a notch. “Intel already knows how to do this! They currently have a three-gigahertz fixed-point unit in their Pentium4. If they can do it, we can.”
Kahle immediately agreed with Hofstee. “I’ve fought the ’dark side’ before and lost,” he said, referring to Intel, “and the last thing I want to do is to come up short again.” He pounded his fist on the table to let us know his decision was final.
Kahle let us debate the point for a while, but we all knew it was pointless to argue. We settled on 10 FO4, four gigahertz at 75 watts as the mind-boggling goal for the STI chip. This meant a quantum leap in frequency with only a fraction of the power compared to the best-of-breed, Intel-based PCs. These were such far-reaching targets—like projecting into outer space—that we could only trust they would be enough to push us ahead of Intel. I sincerely hoped the chance to grapple with Goliath would motivate my team to overachieve and slay the giant.
It was 2001, and no one even knew if a four-gigahertz clock speed was physically possible. To start with, it required ultraefficient circuits with no excess fluff or nice-to-haves. We had to invent a new animal that ran like a cheetah, roared like a lion, and ate like a kitten.
We ended the meeting with concerns weighing heavily on our minds, but before we left, we all stood together and vowed to do whatever it took to achieve the goals. Akrout looked each one of us in the eye, shook our hands, and encouraged us: “Before Roger Bannister broke the four-minute mile barrier, nobody thought it was possible. We can do this.” His bold vision for the team and his confidence in us won us over.
The
