3D-Carbon: An Analytical Carbon Modeling Tool for 3D and 2.5D Integrated Circuits

TL;DR

3D-Carbon is an analytical tool that estimates the carbon footprint of 3D and 2.5D integrated circuits throughout their lifecycle, aiding sustainable design and deployment.

Contribution

It introduces the first dedicated carbon modeling tool for 3D/2.5D ICs, incorporating lifecycle analysis and practical deployment considerations.

Findings

Validated accuracy against baseline models

Demonstrated utility in autonomous vehicle case studies

Provides initial foundation for sustainable 3D/2.5D IC development

Abstract

Environmental sustainability is crucial for Integrated Circuits (ICs) across their lifecycle, particularly in manufacturing and use. Meanwhile, ICs using 3D/2.5D integration technologies have emerged as promising solutions to meet the growing demands for computational power. However, there is a distinct lack of carbon modeling tools for 3D/2.5D ICs. Addressing this, we propose 3D-Carbon, an analytical carbon modeling tool designed to quantify the carbon emissions of 3D/2.5D ICs throughout their life cycle. 3D-Carbon factors in both potential savings and overheads from advanced integration technologies, considering practical deployment constraints like bandwidth. We validate 3D-Carbon's accuracy against established baselines and illustrate its utility through case studies in autonomous vehicles. We believe that 3D-Carbon lays the initial foundation for future innovations in developing environmentally sustainable 3D/2.5D ICs. Our open-source code is available at https://github.com/UMN-ZhaoLab/3D-Carbon.