DAC 2017 Distinguished Speaker

News | Thu, Aug 31st, 2017

Irwin Speaker group

Looking Back, Projecting Forward - Prof. Mary Jane (Janie) Irwin

"To begin the talk I will tell the story of a hardware prototype we implemented early in my career when CMOS was the new technology and Moore’s Law was full steam ahead.  The prototype was an application specific signal processor we named the Arithmetic Cube, which took place in the mid-1980’s to the early 1990’s, and which required the design and implementation of a number of design tools.  This was my first, but not last, foray into the EDA world.  I will briefly describe both the architecture of the Arithmetic Cube and the EDA tools we developed for it. Among the lessons learned during this period was “Let the needs of the design drive the design tool development,” something that those in the EDA industry innately understand as driven by their customers’ needs but something that can be a challenge for academics since it means that one must juggle two research thrusts at the same time.  The second portion of the talk will project forward into several new technology spaces beyond Moore’s Law to see how the lessons learned during the design of the Arithmetic Cube in the early days of CMOS can help guide architecture design and design tools research and development in the future."

Dr. Irwin has been on the faculty at Penn State since 1977 where she currently holds the title of Evan Pugh University Professor in Computer Science and Engineering and A. Robert Noll Chair in Engineering in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering. Her research and teaching interests include computer architecture, multicore systems design, power and reliability aware design, embedded systems, and emerging technologies in computing systems. 

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