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- The 22nd (2022) Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize Winner Semiconductor and its applications to System, Information Technology, Electronics
The 22nd (2022) Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize Winner Semiconductor and its applications to System, Information Technology, Electronics
Research and Business Development of Dynamically Reconfigurable Processors and Their Expansion into the Domain of AI
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| Masato Motomura Professor, AI Computing Research Unit, Institute of Innovative Research, Tokyo Institute of Technology |
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| Takao Toi Senior Manager, Enterprise Infrastructure Business Division, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Corporation |
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| Taro Fujii Principal Application Specialist, Enterprise Infrastructure Business Division, IoT and Infrastructure Business Unit, Renesas Electronics Corporation |
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Reason for award
Although the performance and functions of system LSIs have improved thanks to the advancements in miniaturization processes and high integration, Neumann-type processors face major challenges in terms of power performance efficiency. Dr. Motomura, Dr. Toi, and Mr. Fujii conducted research and development into structural information processing that executes in parallel, deploying processing procedures in hardware, and proposed a creative, non-Neumann architecture to program circuit structures, attaining a dynamic reconfigurable processor (DRP) that combines the high-speed of hardware and the flexibility of software. DRP is an extremely versatile processor in addition to power performance efficiency, and has already been installed in application-specific integrated circuits, ASICs and microprocessors. Many products have been shipped. In particular, it was proposed that this technology is suitable for deep neural network (DNN) processing, a core technology in the field of AI, and demonstrated in various DNN inference chips. In order further to support DNN image processing, which is important for practical purposes, DRP-AI was developed that combines DRP and a multiply-and-accumulate unit. DRP-AI is expected to be the intellectual property core (IP core) of AI chips for embedded devices. Thus, it has a large social impact. For the above reasons, Dr. Motomura, Dr. Toi, and Mr. Fujii have been selected as the winners of the 22nd Yamazaki-Teiichi Prize in the field of Semiconductor and its applications to System, Information Technology, Electronics.