Evaluating Carbon Nanotube Global Interconnects for Chip Multiprocessor Applications

In ultra-deep submicrometer (UDSM) technologies, the current paradigm of using copper (Cu) interconnects for on-chip global communication is rapidly becoming a serious performance bottleneck. In this paper, we perform a system level evaluation of Carbon Nanotube (CNT) interconnect alternatives that may replace conventional Cu interconnects. Our analysis explores the impact of using CNT global interconnects on the performance and energy consumption of several multi-core chip multiprocessor (CMP) applications. Results from our analysis indicate that with improvements in fabrication technology, CNT-based global interconnects can significantly outperform Cu-based global interconnects.