Heterogeneous System Architecture

Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) is a cross-vendor set of specifications that allow for the integration of central processing units and graphics processors on the same bus, with shared memory and tasks.[1] The HSA is being developed by the HSA Foundation, which includes (among many others) AMD and ARM. The platform's stated aim is to reduce communication latency between CPUs, GPUs and other compute devices, and make these various devices more compatible from a programmer's perspective,[2]:3[3] relieving the programmer of the task of planning the moving of data between devices' disjoint memories (as must currently be done with OpenCL or CUDA).[4]

CUDA and OpenCL as well as most other fairly advanced programming languages can use HSA to increase their execution performance.[5] Heterogeneous computing is widely used in system-on-chip devices such as tablets, smartphones, other mobile devices, and video game consoles.[6] HSA allows programs to use the graphics processor for floating point calculations without separate memory or scheduling.[7]

Rationale

The rationale behind HSA is to ease the burden on programmers when offloading calculations to the GPU. Originally driven solely by AMD and called the FSA, the idea was extended to encompass processing units other than GPUs, such as other manufacturers' DSPs, as well.

Steps performed when offloading calculations to the GPU on a non-HSA system 
Steps performed when offloading calculations to the GPU on a HSA system, using the HSA functionality 

Modern GPUs are very well suited to perform single instruction, multiple data (SIMD) and single instruction, multiple threads (SIMT), while modern CPUs are still being optimized for branching. etc.

Overview

Originally introduced by embedded systems such as the Cell Broadband Engine, sharing system memory directly between multiple system actors makes heterogeneous computing more mainstream. Heterogeneous computing itself refers to systems that contain multiple processing units – central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or any type of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs). The system architecture allows any accelerator, for instance a graphics processor, to operate at the same processing level as the system's CPU.

Among its main features, HSA defines a unified virtual address space for compute devices: where GPUs traditionally have their own memory, separate from the main (CPU) memory, HSA requires these devices to share page tables so that devices can exchange data by sharing pointers. This is to be supported by custom memory management units.[2]:6–7 To render interoperability possible and also to ease various aspects of programming, HSA is intended to be ISA-agnostic for both CPUs and accelerators, and to support high-level programming languages.

So far, the HSA specifications cover:

HSA Intermediate Layer

HSA Intermediate Layer (HSAIL), a virtual instruction set for parallel programs

HSA memory model

HSA dispatcher and run-time

Mobile devices are one of the HSA's application areas, in which it yields improved power efficiency.[6]

Block diagrams

The block diagrams below provide high-level illustrations of how HSA operates and how it compares to traditional architectures.

Standard architecture with a discrete GPU attached to the PCI Express bus. Zero-copy between the GPU and CPU is not possible due to distinct physical memories. 
HSA brings unified virtual memory, and facilitates passing pointers over PCI Express instead of copying the entire data. 
In partitioned main memory, one part of the system memory is exclusively allocated to the GPU. As a result, zero-copy operation are not possible. 
Unified main memory, made possible by a combination of HSA-enabled GPU and CPU. As a result, it is possible to perform zero-copy operations.[8] 
Both the CPU's MMU and the GPU's IOMMU have to comply with the HSA hardware specifications. 

Software support

AMD GPUs contain certain additional functional units intended to be used as part of HSA. In Linux, kernel driver amdkfd provides required support.[9][10]

Some of the HSA-specific features implemented in the hardware need to be supported by the operating system kernel and specific device drivers. For example, support for AMD Radeon and AMD FirePro graphics cards, and APUs based on Graphics Core Next (GCN), was merged into version 3.19 of the Linux kernel mainline, released on February 8, 2015.[10] Programs do not interact directly with amdkfd, but queue their jobs utilizing the HSA runtime.[11] This very first implementation, known as amdkfd, focuses on "Kaveri" or "Berlin" APUs and works alongside the existing Radeon kernel graphics driver.

Additionally, amdkfd supports heterogeneous queuing (HQ), which aims to simplify the distribution of computational jobs among multiple CPUs and GPUs from the programmer's perspective. As of February 2015, support for heterogeneous memory management, suited only for graphics hardware featuring version 2 of the AMD's IOMMU, has not yet been accepted into the Linux kernel mainline.

Integrated support for HSA platforms has been announced for the "Sumatra" release of OpenJDK, due in 2015.[12]

AMD APP SDK is AMD's proprietary software development kit targeting parallel computing, available for Microsoft Windows and Linux. Bolt is a C++ template library optimized for heterogeneous computing.[13]

GPUOpen comprehends a couple of other software tools related to HSA. CodeXL version 2.0 includes an HSA profiler.[14]

Hardware support

AMD

As of February 2015, only AMD's "Kaveri" A-series APUs (cf. "Kaveri" desktop processors and "Kaveri" mobile processors) and Sony's PlayStation 4 allowed the integrated GPU to access memory via version 2 of the AMD's IOMMU. Earlier APUs (Trinity and Richland) included the version 2 IOMMU functionality, but only for use by an external GPU connected via PCI Express.

Post-2015 Carrizo and Bristol Ridge APUs also include the version 2 IOMMU functionality for the integrated GPU.

Features of AMD Accelerated Processing Units
Brand Llano Trinity Richland Kaveri Carrizo Bristol Ridge Raven Ridge Desna, Ontario, Zacate Kabini, Temash Beema, Mullins Carrizo-L Stoney Ridge
Platform Desktop, Mobile Mobile Desktop, Mobile Ultra-mobile
Released Aug 2011 Oct 2012 Jun 2013 Jan 2014 Jun 2015 Jun 2016 May 2017 Jan 2011 May 2013 Q2 2014 May 2015 June 2016
Fab. (nm) GlobalFoundries 32 SOI 28 14 TSMC 40 28
Die size (mm2) 228 246 245 244.62 250.04 TBA 75 (+ 28 FCH) ~107 TBA 125
Socket FM1, FS1 FM2, FS1+, FP2 FM2+, FP3 FM2+, FP4 FP4 AM4, FP5 FT1 AM1, FT3 FT3b FP4 FP4
CPU architecture AMD 10h Piledriver Steamroller Excavator Zen Bobcat Jaguar Puma Puma+[15] Excavator
Memory support DDR3-1866
DDR3-1600
DDR3-1333 		DDR3-2133
DDR3-1866
DDR3-1600
DDR3-1333 		DDR4-2400
DDR4-2133
DDR4-1866
DDR4-1600 		DDR3L-1333
DDR3L-1066 		DDR3L-1866
DDR3L-1600
DDR3L-1333
DDR3L-1066 		DDR3L-1866
DDR3L-1600
DDR3L-1333 		Up to
DDR4-2133
3D engine[lower-alpha 1] TeraScale (VLIW5) TeraScale (VLIW4) GCN 2nd Gen (Mantle, HSA) GCN 3rd Gen (Mantle, HSA) GCN 4th Gen[16] (Mantle, HSA) TeraScale (VLIW5) GCN 2nd Gen GCN 3rd Gen[17]
Up to 400:20:8 Up to 384:24:6 Up to 512:32:8 Up to 768:48:12 80:8:4 128:8:4 Up to 192:?:?
IOMMUv1 IOMMUv2 IOMMUv1[18] TBA TBA
Unified Video Decoder UVD 3 UVD 4.2 UVD 6 TBA UVD 3 UVD 4 UVD 4.2 UVD 6 UVD 6.3
Video Coding Engine N/A VCE 1.0 VCE 2.0 VCE 3.1 TBA N/A VCE 2.0 VCE 3.1
GPU power saving PowerPlay PowerTune N/A PowerTune[19]
Max. displays[lower-alpha 2] 2–3 2–4 2–4 3 4 TBA 2 TBA TBA
TrueAudio N/A ✔[21] N/A[18] TBA
FreeSync N/A ✔ N/A TBA
/drm/radeon[22][23] ✔ N/A ✔ N/A
/drm/amd/amdgpu[24] N/A ✔[25] ✔ N/A ✔[25] ✔
  1. ↑ Unified shaders : texture mapping units : render output units
  2. ↑ To feed more than two displays, the additional panels must have native DisplayPort support.[20] Alternatively active DisplayPort-to-DVI/HDMI/VGA adapters can be employed.

ARM

ARM's Bifrost microarchitecture, as implemented in the Mali-G71,[26] is fully compliant with the HSA 1.1 hardware specifications. As of June 2016, ARM has not announced software support that would use this hardware feature.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heterogeneous System Architecture.

References

  1. ↑ Tarun Iyer (30 April 2013). "AMD Unveils its Heterogeneous Uniform Memory Access (hUMA) Technology". Tom's Hardware.
  2. 1 2 George Kyriazis (30 August 2012). Heterogeneous System Architecture: A Technical Review (PDF) (Report). AMD.
  3. ↑ "What is Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA)?". AMD. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  4. ↑ Joel Hruska (2013-08-26). "Setting HSAIL: AMD explains the future of CPU/GPU cooperation". ExtremeTech. Ziff Davis.
  5. ↑ Linaro. "LCE13: Heterogeneous System Architecture (HSA) on ARM". slideshare.net.
  6. 1 2 "Heterogeneous System Architecture: Purpose and Outlook". gpuscience.com. 2012-11-09. Archived from the original on 2014-02-01. Retrieved 2014-05-24.
  7. ↑ "Heterogeneous system architecture: Multicore image processing using a mix of CPU and GPU elements". Embedded Computing Design. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  8. ↑ "Kaveri microarchitecture". SemiAccurate. 2014-01-15.
  9. ↑ Michael Larabel (July 21, 2014). "AMDKFD Driver Still Evolving For Open-Source HSA On Linux". Phoronix. Retrieved January 21, 2015.
  10. 1 2 "Linux kernel 3.19, Section 1.3. HSA driver for AMD GPU devices". kernelnewbies.org. February 8, 2015. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  11. ↑ "HSA-Runtime-Reference-Source/README.md at master". github.com. November 14, 2014. Retrieved February 12, 2015.
  12. ↑ Alex Woodie (26 August 2013). "HSA Foundation Aims to Boost Java's GPU Prowess". HPCwire.
  13. ↑ "Bolt on github".
  14. ↑ AMD GPUOpen (2016-04-19). "CodeXL 2.0 includes HSA profiler".
  15. ↑ "AMD Mobile "Carrizo" Family of APUs Designed to Deliver Significant Leap in Performance, Energy Efficiency in 2015" (Press release). 2014-11-20. Retrieved 2015-02-16.
  16. ↑ "AMD VEGA10 and VEGA11 GPUs spotted in OpenCL driver". VideoCardz.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "AMD VEGA10 and VEGA11 GPUs spotted in OpenCL driver". VideoCardz.com. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  18. 1 2 Thomas De Maesschalck (2013-11-14). "AMD teases Mullins and Beema tablet/convertibles APU". Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  19. ↑ Tony Chen; Jason Greaves, "AMD's Graphics Core Next (GCN) Architecture" (PDF), AMD, retrieved 2016-08-13
  20. ↑ "How do I connect three or More Monitors to an AMD Radeon™ HD 5000, HD 6000, and HD 7000 Series Graphics Card?". AMD. Retrieved 2014-12-08.
  21. ↑ "A technical look at AMD's Kaveri architecture". Semi Accurate. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  22. ↑ Airlie, David (2009-11-26). "DisplayPort supported by KMS driver mainlined into Linux kernel 2.6.33". Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  23. ↑ "Radeon feature matrix". freedesktop.org. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
  24. ↑ Deucher, Alexander (2015-09-16). "XDC2015: AMDGPU" (PDF). Retrieved 2016-01-16.
  25. 1 2 Michel Dänzer (2016-11-17). "[ANNOUNCE] xf86-video-amdgpu 1.2.0". lists.x.org.
  26. ↑ "ARM Bifrost GPU Architecture". 2016-05-30.
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