Quo vadis, BTSoC (Billion Transistor SoC)?

Billion transistor systems-on-chip (BTSoCs) present designers with a classic case of the "embarrassment-of-riches" syndrome: with so many devices at one\´s disposal, designers may be tempted to integrate functionality willy-nilly, with no strategic rethinking of what this level of integration can both afford, as well as achieve. While many advocate "business-as- usual" - including ad-hoc integration of functionality to achieve application-specific or domain-dependent designs. The author believes that BTSoCs present us with some opportunities for a paradigm shift in the architectural strategies and design processes for designing such complex chips. The author summarizes some key principles and ideas here.