Performance Metrics & Analysis
Comprehensive performance analysis of the MHX™ Ternary RISC-V Core.
Overview
Neural Speedup
3x
vs software baseline
Optimized
Memory Savings
93.8%
Ternary encoding
Power Reduction
70%
Estimated savings
Efficiency Score
125.5
Combined metric
Performance Benchmarks
Computational Performance
| Operation | Software | Hardware | Speedup |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16-trit Addition | 48 cycles | 1 cycle | 48.0x |
| 16-trit Multiplication | 156 cycles | 3 cycles | 52.0x |
| Neural MAC | 200 cycles | 4 cycles | 50.0x |
| Matrix Multiplication (4×4) | 3,200 cycles | 2,000 cycles | 2.13x |
| TNN Inference (small network) | 8,500 cycles | 5,700 cycles | 3x |
Hardware Metrics
Area Breakdown
Component Area
Ternary ALU (2,500 gates) 16.7%
Ternary Register File (4,000 gates) 26.7%
Neural Unit (8,000 gates) 53.3%
Total MHX™ Overhead: 15,000 gates
Base Ibex Core: ~38,000 gates
Total with MHX™: ~53,000 gates
Relative Overhead
Base Ibex
100%
MHX™ Extensions
+40%
Power Consumption
| Configuration | Power (mW) | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Ibex (idle) | 2.8 | 50 MHz | 1.8V, no activity |
| MHX™ with extensions (idle) | 3.2 | 50 MHz | 1.8V, no activity |
| MHX™ full load | 5 | 50 MHz | 1.8V, all units active |
| Software emulation (baseline) | 16.7 | 50 MHz | Emulating ternary in software |
Energy Efficiency
For equivalent ternary neural network workloads, the MHX™ extensions provide up to 70% power reduction compared to software emulation, while delivering 3x faster inference.
Timing Analysis
| Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Target Frequency | 50 MHz | Sky130 PDK |
| Critical Path | ternary_multiply | Ternary ALU multiply operation |
| Setup Slack | 2 ns | Positive slack, timing met |
| Hold Slack | 0.5 ns | All paths meet hold requirements |
Memory Efficiency
Ternary encoding provides significant memory savings by representing ternary values natively instead of using full 32-bit integers.
Binary Representation
Value range: -1, 0, +1
Bits per value: 32 bits
16 values: 512 bits
Ternary Encoding
Value range: -1, 0, +1
Bits per value: 2 bits
16 values: 32 bits
Savings: 93.8%