High-Performance Processors in a Power-Limited World

Processor designers and the VLSI industry in general have truly hit the power wall. Many options have been and are being explored to mitigate or circumvent the impact of power limits on performance, but all of these solutions have limited effect and application. The implications of this fundamental limit are far reaching for processor architectures and the shape of computing in coming years. This paper explores the nature of power limitations and some of the implications for the future of processor design