COLLOQUIUM
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of South Carolina
 
Online Architectures: Run-Time Reconfiguration and 
Module Specialization Research at Clemson University

Ron Sass

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Clemson University

Date: September 18, 2003 (Thursday)
Time: 3:30-4:30PM
Place: Swearingen 1A03 (Faculty Lounge)

Abstract

User expectations for computing devices seem to be unbounded;
especially with respect to what a handheld (or smaller) device can do.
This demand is driving research and development of computing systems,
where not only speed, but also energy, size, and cost are significant
factors.  While no single, predominant architecture has emerged for
these devices, it seems destined that programmable logic (FPGA-like
technology) will be a component.  Consequently, tools and techniques
developed to map high-performance computing applications to
Reconfigurable Computing (RC) systems now have broader implications in
the world of embedded computing.

This presentation is divided into two parts.  The first part describes
an overview of our three main RC thrusts.  We will describe the
Intelligent NIC and its role in an Adaptable Computing Cluster.  Next,
some recent advances in an RC application design environment called
RCADE will be presented.  The third thrust is our work in online
architectures.  We will describe one of our projects that accelerates
a Java Virtual Machine with programmable logic by reconfiguring the
hardware at run-time.  In the second part of the talk, we focus on a
single specific problem.  We describe our efforts in module
specialization and its importance in producing efficient, high-quality
hardware designs.

Ron Sass is an Assistant Professor at Clemson University. He received
his B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of
Toledo. He earned a M.S. and Ph.D. in Computer Science from Michigan
State University and was a Visiting Instructor there from August 1996
to August 1997.  Ron has been at Clemson University since August of
1997.  Ron's research at Clemson University has focused on
Reconfigurable Computing, cluster computing, and computer
networking. In particular, he is interested in Run-Time Reconfigurable
systems. He has co-authored 15 peer-review conference and journal
papers in the field.  He is a member of ACM, IEEE Computer Society,
and the IEEE Communication Society.