NVIDIA Unlocks GPU System Processor (GSP) for Improved System Performance

In 2016, NVIDIA announced that the company is working on replacing its Fast Logic Controller processor codenamed Falcon with a new GPU System Processor (GSP) solution based on RISC-V Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). This novel RISC-V processor is codenamed NV-RISCV and has been used for an unknown period as GPU’s controller core, coordinating everything in the massive pool of GPU cores. Today, NVIDIA has decided to open this NV-RISCV CPU to a broader spectrum of applications starting with 510.39 drivers. According to the NVIDIA documents, this is only available in the select GPUs for now, mainly data-centric Tesla accelerators.

NVIDIA DocumentsSome GPUs include a GPU System Processor (GSP) which can be used to offload GPU initialization and management tasks. This processor is driven by the firmware file /lib/firmware/nvidia/510.39.01/gsp.bin. A few select products currently use GSP by default, and more products will take advantage of GSP in future driver releases.

Offloading tasks which were traditionally performed by the driver on the CPU can improve performance due to lower latency access to GPU hardware internals.

As this document shows, many tasks like GPU management and initialization were performed by the driver on the CPU. The CPU is traditionally external (relative to the GPU), resulting in higher latencies when requests are made. A CPU embedded into the GPU results in instant delivery of requested data/action, enabling lower latencies and improving performance. We have yet to see what NVIDIA can do with it and how significant the performance penalty was using old ways when the GSP was not enabled. This also points a new direction for GPUs and accelerators alike, an independent state where CPUs get integrated on-die instead of depending on external hardware.

So far, only select GPUs get their GSP unlocked, and the complete list can be found in the document and the image above. It is advised to check the webise for the record, as NVIDIA can update it at any time.