Leibson's Law

Steve Leibson Leibson's Law: It takes 10 years for any disruptive technology to become pervasive in the design community. This blog is about the disruptive technologies that either have or will win over electronic engineers, some that won't, and why. Please feel free to link to these blog entries! Written by Steve Leibson, a freelance content creator and marketing/lead-generation consultant specializing in high-tech companies, former VP of Content for Reed Business, and former Editor in Chief of three publications including EDN. See my consulting Web site at www.sleibson.com and my history site at www.hp9825.com. You can email me at steven.leibson followed by the magic email symbol @ followed by att.net.

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Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Beer and Processors at DAC

Jul 29 2009 1:45PM | Permalink |Comments (6) |

Great analogies, even when flawed, should be shared. I saw just such an analogy yesterday at a DAC Pavilion Panel on multicore design. I attended the panel because my good friend Grant Martin was a panelist and he was kind enough to attend my own DAC Pavilion Panel on system-level design. Gert Goossens, CEO and co-founder of Target Compiler Technologies, was also on the panel and he’d prepared a presentation comparing processor cores and multiple-core design to beer. Yes, it’s a stretch and I don’t think it works entirely, but it’s amusing enough to share.

First, said Gert, there are the general-purpose processors. He was looking over at ARM’s John Goodenough when he said this and as he put up this image:

The image shows Gert’s portrayal of general-purpose processors as a popular, widely consumed American beer. A general-purpose core is like one bottle of beer. A dual-core design is like two bottles. A multicore design might be a six-pack or a case of beer. No matter how many bottles, it’s the same beer in each bottle.

Next, said Gert, there are configurable processors. He put up this image:

All configurable processors, said Gert, start with a general-purpose foundation. He characterized this general-purpose foundation as the same brand of beer as in the first image, which is where the analogy sort of jumps the tracks. But more on that later. With a configurable processor, you can change the bottle, signified by the long-neck beer bottle. You can strip out some of the features, producing a “core light,” and you can “repackage” the core, signified by the can of beer. But it’s still the same beer said Gert.

I’m not sure exactly what Gert meant by all of this. It’s always dangerous when one vendor tries to characterize another vendor’s product, but Gert was on a roll and the audience was laughing.

Finally, said Gert, there are ASIPs—application-specific instruction-set processors. These are like fine European craft beers that come in a variety of flavors said Gert as he put up the next image:

Gert’s point is that ASIPs provide designers with more choices. It’s a valid point. But the available processor cores don’t all fall cleanly into these three either/or categories and so the analogy breaks down. Amusing though.

Related entries in: IP Cores | Microprocessors | SOC |

Reader Comments

at 7/29/2009 6:01:16 PM, Grant Martin said:
Steve, thanks for coming to the panel - appreciated you being there and asking a question. Re. Gert's presentation and analogy, it is interesting that he did not cover configurable, extensible processors, which of course are full ASIPs and thus offer all the varieties and flavours of his third category. Sometimes people confuse configurable and configurable, extensible, the latter being a much wider category since you can add instruction extensions to make a very application oriented processor (the essence of an ASIP). As you point out, Gert's analogies jumped the tracks a bit at that point. But the virtual beer no doubt tasted virtually good!

at 7/29/2009 7:50:07 PM, rbp said:
I like the analogy, even though I don't drink. :)

at 7/30/2009 1:04:31 PM, Steve Cox said:
Hi Steve. I attended the panel as well. What I found most interesting was John Goodenough's (ARM) reaction to being compared to the "King of Beers". ARM seems quite prominent in the marketplace to me! In his reaction, John commented that he would prefer that ARM was compared to a craft beer. But, that's just the point of ASIPs. While any individual craft beer likely appeals to only a small audience (think how a low-power audio ASIP would certainly not appeal to someone trying to perform video decoding), a broadly-proliferated product must trade off qualities that might be preferred by a small-subsection of the total market in order to generate mass-market appeal. Of course such products will have long-standing appeal in the market (nearly every bar serves Bud), yet their tap-handle is right next to a collection of taps for craft brews - provided for those with more definitive taste (or requirements). (Lastly, don't the Belgians own Budweiser now? hah! 8^)

at 7/30/2009 2:39:14 PM, Steve Leibson said:
Steve Cox: I found John Googenough's reaction to seeing Gert compare the ARM architecture to Budweiser beer quite understandable. It was a thinly veiled attempt to discredit a competitor's product in the name of good marketing fun and he reacted accordingly. Gert could have chosen any brand of beer for the standard architecture example. In ARM's case, he might have chosen a UK brand, perhaps Bass Pale Ale, and be more on target. Instead, Gert decided to send a not-too-subtle message by picking a mass-market beer that's not viewed as favorably by "serious" beer drinkers. Mass-market certainly describes ARM, which owns the volume title by virtue of being the processor core of choice for cell phones. However, the comparison with Budweiser is little more than FUDslinging. I skipped discussing this aspect of Gert's talk in my original blog post. I wanted to let it slide. But you couldn't resist rubbing it in. So be it.

at 7/30/2009 10:30:36 PM, Dave J said:
There are many fine *American* craft beers, too. Just sayin'.

at 8/4/2009 7:02:38 PM, Gulbin Ezer said:
I heartily agree with Dave J. At Tensilica, the company of configurable and extensible processors, we have a full all-American microbrewery with an international brew-crew. GPs, DSPs, Media Processors, you name it, we'll bring it to your table.