Intel uses in-house AI tools to optimize SoC layouts from 6 weeks, to just 'minutes'

Intel is now talking about its new augmented intelligence tool developed in-house by Intel engineers, system-on-chip (SoC) designers now aren't waiting 6 weeks to see if they hit the sensor sweet spot, thanks to AI they're getting these answers in just a few minutes.

2

The new AI-powered tool developed by the Augmented Intelligence team led by Dr. Olena Zhu, senior principal engineer and AI solution artitect inside of Intel's Client Computing Group (CCG), helped Intel's system architecture factor thousands of variables into future silicon designs, with it being just one of many where Intel teams are using AI to optimize various workloads.

Engineers are required to analyze complex, concurrent workloads that activate the CPU core, input/output (I/O), and other system functions precisely to determine the location of thermal hotspots on a processor. The engineers also have to decide where to place very tiny sensors-each is barely larger than the tip of your average pin, says Intel-which makes things more complicated again.

This is where AI steps in. It can remove most of the engineers' guesswork. They can just type in their boundary conditions, and the AI-powered tool works through thousands of variables, returning idean design suggestions in just minutes. This process used to take six weeks, so that is an incredible time-saving tool that Intel has in its hands.

• Read more: Intel plans fully AI-chip factories powered by 'Cobots' in the future
• Read more: Intel's next-gen LGA 1851 socket spotted: ready for Arrow Lake-S CPUs
• Read more: Intel says its next-gen Lunar Lake CPU will have 100+ TOPs of AI performance

Mark Gallina, CCG principal engineer and senior system thermal and mechanical architect, explained in the press release on Intel's website: "That process takes a few weeks, and we are limited to looking into one or two workloads at a time. Client products like laptops rely heavily on turbo and peak frequencies. You want the SoC to burst to higher frequencies, which in turn generates thermal heat".

Intel has already used this AI-powered tool on its first-gen Core Ultra "Meteor Lake" processors, with the company confirming that it will be applied to future client products like Lunar Lake and its successors, to "further the offerings of the AI PC class of laptops".

Olena and her team, engineers across Intel, are embracing AI says the company. CCG's Augmented Intelligence team is finding new ways to speed up hardware and software design using AI. These are just some of the examples that Intel explained:

• A fast and accurate signal integrity analysis tool for high-speed I/O reduces design time from months to an hour. The bonus? Intel is the first in the industry to embrace this technique, which has supported generations of chip designs.
• An AI-based automatic failure analysis tool for high-speed I/O design, deployed since 2020, led to 60% efficiency gains.
• An augmented intelligence tool called "AI-Assist" uses an AI model to automatically determine customized overclocking values for different platforms. This reduces overclocking time from days to just one minute. AI-Assist is available on Raptor Lake Refresh machines. (Video: How AI Assist Uses Machine Learning to Make Overclocking Easy)
• An AI-based automatic silicon floor plan optimizer is incorporated into Intel's SoC design flow.
• A smart-sampling tool to help power and performance engineers crunch smart design experiments reduced the number of testing cases by as much as 40%.
• A user-interactive tool builds AI models to predict the performance of architectural proposals and help answer CPU design trade-off questions.
• A new way to automatically place tiny board components drives down cycle time from days to hours.

You can read the entire piece on Intel's website.