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    George Gmax
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    Computer Architecture is the field that designs computers, which sets the foundation for the entire IT industry. Many of the leading thinkers in Computer Architecture are in academia. Today we have hit the wall as to the practical limit to the amount of power that a microprocessor chip can dissipate. Academic researchers are often the path breakers even though they have fewer resources.

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    Computer Architecture is the field that designs computers, which sets the foundation for the entire IT industry. Many of the leading thinkers in Computer Architecture are in academia. Today we have hit the wall as to the practical limit to the amount of power that a microprocessor chip can dissipate. Academic researchers are often the path breakers even though they have fewer resources.

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    22 views2 pages

    Computer Architecture

    Uploaded by

    George Gmax
    Computer Architecture is the field that designs computers, which sets the foundation for the entire IT industry. Many of the leading thinkers in Computer Architecture are in academia. Today we have hit the wall as to the practical limit to the amount of power that a microprocessor chip can dissipate. Academic researchers are often the path breakers even though they have fewer resources.

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    TheFutureofComputerArchitecture

    DavidPatterson UCBerkeley Version3:December12,20081 ComputerArchitectureisthefieldthatdesignscomputers,whichsetsthefoundationfor theentireITindustry. DespitethetremendousresourcesatlargecompaniessuchasIBMandIntel,thereisalong trackrecordofbreakthroughsfromacademicresearchersincomputerarchitecturethat haveledtonewmultibilliondollarindustries.Onereasonissimplythatmanyofthe leadingthinkersincomputerarchitectureareinacademia,asthenumberofawards,books, andpapersdocument.Anotherreasonisthatacademicresearchersarenotboundthe businessrequirementsofcompatibilitywithlegacyhardwareandsoftware.Athirdreason isthatwheninformationtechnologyischangingrapidly,decadesofexperiencemaynotbe ahugeasset,andbrightyounggraduatestudentswhodontknowwhatcantbedoneareas likelytomakeanimportantcontributionasthoseconsiderablymoresenior. Thus,inareaswherethereistremendousconsensusontheguidelinesonwhattodo, computerarchitectsatIntelandIBMusuallyleadtheway.Whenthedirectionsareless clear,academicsareoftenthepathbreakerseventhoughtheyhavefewerresources. Today,wehavehitthewallastothepracticallimittotheamountofpowerthata microprocessorchipcandissipate;inthepasteachgenerationofchipusedmorepower whilegettingmoreperformance.Weneedtoinventanewwaytogetmoreperformance withoutmorepower.Moreover,themostinterestingcomputersofthefutureareatthe extremesinscale: Thedatacenteristhecomputer.Amazon,Google,Microsoft,andothersareracingto constructbuildingswith50,000computerstorunsoftwareasaservice(SaaS). Thecellphoneisthecomputer.Millionsofcellphonesareshippedeachdayandthey areincreasinginfunctionality. Thepowerwallandtheextremesincomputersizemeanthattheoldguidelinesareout thewindow,so,ifhistoryisanyguide,wereenteringaneraofincreasingimportancefor academiccomputerarchitecture. Notethatinsuchanuncertaineratheremanychancesfornewmultibilliondollar industries,andthesenewindustriesarelikelytoflourishclosetowheretheresearchersdo
    1Forthemostcurrentversionofthisessay,aswellasrelatedessays,visithttp://www.cra.org/ccc/initiatives

    theirwork.WehaveseenthecenteroftheITuniverseshiftgeographicallybeforeduring erasofchange: NewYorkinthemainframeeraofthe1950sand1960s; Bostonintheminicomputereraofthe1970sandearly1980s; SiliconValleyinPCandWeberaofthelate1980stotoday. Giventhechallengesmentionedabove,othercountriesareinvestingtremendouslyinITin generalandincomputerarchitecturespecifically,sincetheyseetheopportunityinthisera ofchangetoshiftthecenteroftheITuniverseandthejobsthatcomewithit.Especially giventhecuttoacademicITresearchingeneralandtocomputerarchitecturespecifically intheUS,itsnothardtoimaginetheITcentermovingfurtherwestinthenextdecadeto BeijingorMumbai. Oneareaoftremendousopportunityincomputerarchitectureisthemanycorechallenge. Thegoalistoinventcomputersthatmakeiteasytowriteprogramsthatareefficient, portable,correct,andscaleasthenumberofcorespermicroprocessorincreasesaseasy asithasbeentowriteprogramsfortraditionalcomputers.Ifthisinventionallows softwaretousemanysimplepowerefficientcoresinsteadofasinglepowerhungrycore, thiswillresetthefoundationfortheITindustryforatleastthenext30years. Asecondopportunityisinventinganewcomputerarchitecturethatimprovescomputer securityandprivacy,problemsthatplaguetheITfield.Architectscouldremovemanyof thevulnerabilitiesoftodayscomputersiftheywerenotboundbythelegacyrequirements ofcompatibilitywithtodayscomputers.Theycouldalsoprovidenewfeaturestomakeit easiertobuildfast,secure,lowoverheadvirtualmachines,makingiteasierandsaferfor softwaretomigratebetweenthedatacenterandthecellphone. Athirdopportunityisinventcomputersthatwillremovetheperformancebottlenecks fromnew,highlyproductiveprogrammingenvironmentssuchRubyorPython.For example,theRubyonRailsenvironmentallowsprogrammerstoinventamazingnew computerapplicationsinjust1000to2000linesofcodefactorsof10to100lessthan conventionalapproaches.Exampleapplicationareasincludepersonalhealthcare, personalmemoryassistants,andpersonaldigitaleducators.Alas,RubyonRails performanceisfactorsof3to10worsethanconventionalsystems.Ifwecaninvent computersthatallownewprogrammingsystemslikeRubyorPythontoscaleupto hundredsofcoreswhilepreservingtheiramazingprogrammingproductivity,wecould unleashanewroundofexcitingapplicationsthatwillleadtonewmultibilliondollar industries,justaswevedonesomanytimesinthepast. IntelandMicrosoftrecentlyfundedtwomajoracademiccenterstotacklethesecritical challengesatUCBerkeleyandtheUniversityofIllinois.Manyotherhighlycredible proposalswerereceived,fromstrongteamspursuingdiverseapproaches.Anational initiativewouldfundfivemorecentersofexcellenceincomputersystemsandarchitecture, positioningtheUnitedStatestomaintainitspreeminenceintheITfield.

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