CPUs, GPUs, and TPUs Explained for Beginners
A ground-up explanation of three types of processors — what they are, how they work, and when to use each one. No prior hardware knowledge required.
Series
TPU
From first principles to Pod-scale distributed training on Google Cloud TPUs.
- 1
- 2
Google Cloud TPU System Architecture: From First Principles to Pod-Scale Training
A deep-dive mental model for TPU system architecture — from single chips to Pod-scale distributed training, covering TPU VM, the MXU systolic array, ICI topology, XLA compilation, SPMD/GSPMD sharding, and the complete path from Python to silicon.