A Post-Fabrication Reconfigurable Platform for Cost-Effective Low-Power High-Performance Embedded Computing

Allen Cheng (University of Pittsburgh, Dept. of ECE)

Tuesday, September 4th, 2007
12 pm - SENSQ 5317

Free pizza and refreshments will be provided to attendees starting at 11:45 am

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Abstract

Applications of embedded systems range from small handheld devices like PDAs and cellular phones to real-time controls equipped in automobiles and space shuttles. Designers for embedded systems have to meet different and often conflicting constraints involving power consumption, speed, size, and cost. While a system designer may develop architectural features and/or compiler optimizations to improve one aspect of an embedded system, it often comes at the detriment of another. In this talk, I will be discussing some of the issues and challenges in designing processors for embedded systems. Then I will present an architecture/compiler synergistic approach - Framework-based Instruction-set Tuning Synthesis (FITS) and how it can help simultaneously address these design issues.

Biography of Speaker

Professor Allen C. Cheng is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Department of Neurological Surgery at University of Pittsburgh. He received his Ph.D.and M.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and his B.S. in Computer Engineering from the North Carolina State University. Prior to join the University of Pittsburgh, he was a faculty lecturer in the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His research interests focus on the areas of computer system architecture, processor microarchitecture, and compiler optimizations with emphasis on low-power, reliable, secure, high-performance embedded systems, specialized processors, and System-on-a-Chip (SoC) with applications in health care, science, and engineering. He is a member of several international scholar and honor societies including Eta Kappa Nu, Phi Eta Sigma, and Golden Key. He is also a member of IEEE, ACM, and AAAS.