Maximum flexibility is no longer the reliable path to product success. While flexibility must be there for a purpose, it also can be a liability.
The end of Dennard scaling made the simultaneous use of all the transistors troublesome, but transistors remained effectively unlimited. This led to an era where large amounts of flexibility could be built into a chip. It didn’t matter if all of it was being used; greater flexibility made the total market opportunity larger.
December 13th, 2018 – By: Brian Bailey