Computer Systems Research: The Joys, the Perils, and How to Count Beans Well
This post takes a personalized, and hence subjective, look at the joys of doing leading edge computer systems research and development. It then delves into some of the perils of this activity, including bean counting, aka bibliometic indices that are not always kind to the work in this field. I then give some high-level suggestions for how to skirt the perils and embrace the joys.
Highlights of 2020 Security Conferences for Computer Architects – Part II
Security remains a popular research area in our conferences – MICRO-53 featured two sessions and eight papers dedicated to security. To contribute new ideas in this area, it is important for computer architects to keep up with recent developments in both...
MICRO 2020 – How “Virtual” Was It?
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary gives two definitions for the adjective “virtual”: (d1) “. . . made to appear to exist by the use of computer software, for example on the internet”, and (d2) “. . . almost or very nearly the thing described, so that any...
Chiplet-Based Systems
[Editor’s Note: I’m very happy to announce that Christina Delimitrou of Cornell University will be serving as the blog’s Associate Editor. Thank you, Vijay Janapa Reddi, for your amazing service in this role for the last three years!] Chip vendors...
Having Effective Meetings Between Advisors and Students
Effective collaboration and communication are the key to the academic success of both the advisor and the student. Unfortunately, in most cases the advisor can only afford to schedule the regular 1:1 meetings weekly or bi-weekly rather than daily. This means that in a...
MICRO 2020 “Trip” Report
MICRO 2020, one of the flagship forums in the field of computer architecture, just came to an end in Athens, Greece. Hang on. We are still in the COVID-19 era, and I had to take a virtual, and the cheapest flight from New Delhi to Athens. The flight included access to...
The Importance of End-to-End Thinking in System Design
I once attended a talk by Yoky Matsuoka when I was young – so young, in fact, that I don’t remember when or where the talk was. What I do remember is her telling the story of designing a prosthetic hand. She had encountered previous designs where the...
From Heavy Metal to Irrational Exuberance
The focus of most published research in architecture is on applications implemented in high-performance, “close-to-the-metal” languages essentially developed before computers got fast. These, let’s call them metal languages, include FORTRAN...
People of Systems & Architecture: Margo I. Seltzer
[Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the SIGOPS blog and is re-posted here with permission.] With most systems and architecture conferences taking the online route, we figured it’s a great time to get to know a few people in the systems/architecture...Subscribe
