Information Technology in 2050

• Internet use and data transfer are ever growing

• This growth is associated with an enormous energy consumption 

• Architectural and structural modifications are needed in the IT infrastructure.

Background

Issues and Constraints• Data center inefficiencies• Circuit inefficiencies• Moore's Law limitations

Recommended Solutions

• Reduce system inefficiencies • Integrated Si photonics• Scale down size of Ge

photodetector to reduce power consumption

Team Green IT: Joshua Blum and Jesika Haria

Principles of Engineering Practice 2011 UT-MIST-MIT International Seminar on Materials

Source: CTR, Jan 2011

Presentation Summary

Background (Trends vs. current technology)

• Energy consumed by IT has increased 10x since 2006 to 15% of total energy consumption 

• A PC runs at 6% efficiency, data centers run at 56% efficiency • The IT industry accounts for 2% of the world's GHG emissions,

higher than the airline industry• Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), Data Center Performance

Efficiency (DCPE) and Input-Output Operations (IOPs)/ Watt are some metrics that can be used to measure data center efficiency 

By 2030, IT traffic will consume 100% of Japan's current energy production

Source: METI and MIC

Energy (TWh)

Time (years)

IP Routers

Internet traffic

System Constraints

• Data centers have huge losses, mostly cooling, low utilization and UPS• Only 2.5% of energy entering a data center goes to useful computing 

Source: Rocky Mountain Institute

Circuit Constraints

• Moore's Law states that the number of transistors that can be placed inexpensively on a circuit doubles every year

• Moore's Law is approaching its limit now• Current metal interconnect technologies are hugely inefficient due to power

losses 

Architectural and structural changes need to be made Source: Moore's Law, Wikipedia

P: PowerC: CapacitanceV: Voltagef : Frequency 

Recommendations Architectural Recommendations• Nano-Data Centers• Energy Proportional Computing • Cloud Computing

Recommendations 

Structural Recommendations• Integrated Si photonics• Ge photodetectors

Source: Characterizing the Business Environment

Architectural Recommendations Nano-Data Centers (NaDa)• P2P network• Saves in cooling costs• Less data travel distance• Estimated to save 30-40% of cooling costs

Cloud Computing• Works hand and hand with NaDa and EPC• Distributes workload over many devices• Allows instant access to files

Energy Proportional Computing (EPC)• Servers & computers typically operate at

10%-50% of utilization• Eliminates baseline power waste• Technology present in mobile device

Source: Case for EPC 2007

Structural Recommendations 

Si Integrated photonics• Convergence on the "last mile" of photonics and

electronics• Inter-chip communications & all connections less

than 5cm

Ge Photodetectors• Used for large difference in index of

refraction from Si (4.0 vs. 3.5)• Power consumption proportional to area

(capacitance) and applied voltage• Need a 1000x reduction to limit consumption

curve (IT in Japan)

Source: Si Integrated Ge JFET Photodetector, J Wang

Analysis

• Architectural modifications will eliminate system inefficiencies present• For long term energy reduction, photonics will take the lead• Goal is to reduce power consumption by 1000x by scaling down and

integrating photonic devices. 

Source: Intel Corporation, 2010

• Growth is sustainable if technology creates efficiencies.

• As needs scale up, efficiency must scale up proportionately.

• By making IT more efficient, other sectors can become more efficient as well.  Implementation

• In 10 years, bring in architectural changes and begin implementing structural modifications

• In 50 years, physical limitations of photonics will be reached, beginning of a new learning curve.  

• Beyond 50 years, begin new learning curve for IT with new technologies...

Consequences

... along with time travel, teleportation, and lightsabers?

Source: METI and MIC

Energy (TWh)

Time (years)

IP Routers

Internet traffic