Sub-PicoJoule per operation scalable computing: why, when, how?

The "internet of everything" envisions trillions of connected objects loaded with high-bandwidth sensors requiring massive amounts of local signal processing, fusion, pattern extraction and classification. From the computational viewpoint, the challenge is formidable and can be addressed only by pushing computing fabrics toward massive parallelism and brain-like energy efficiency levels. CMOS technology can still take us a long way toward this vision. Our recent results with the open-source PULP (parallel ultra-low power) chips demonstrate that pj/OP (GOPS/mW) computational efficiency is within reach in today's 28nm CMOS FDSOI technology. In this talk, I will look at the next 1000x of energy efficiency improvement, which will require heterogeneous 3D integration, mixed-signal, approximate processing and non-Von-Neumann architectures for scalable acceleration.