Sunday, July 9, 2006 (13:30 - 16:30, Thomson)
Prof. Nikil Dutt, University of California at Irvine, USA
Prof. Wayne Wolf, Princeton University, USA
Multimedia systems are high-performance applications that demand the most out of computing systems. They are often implemented on low-cost or mobile platforms that put additional constraints on the design of the system. This tutorial will cover basic concepts and techniques for the design of hardware and software for multimedia systems.
Multimedia applications stress all the major problems in embedded computing: real-time responsiveness, low-power operation, and low cost. A variety of hardware platforms are available to serve as the basis of multimedia systems, depending on the sales volume, performance requirements, and energy budget of the projects. Many software techniques have been developed to optimize the execution of software for real-time, low-power, and memory-constrained systems.
Multimedia systems have traditionally relied on hardware because software could not provide the necessary performance. However, modern multimedia applications are so complex that they inevitably implement a substantial amount of software. Furthermore, newer customized programmable and reconfigurable platforms are emerging that can deliver the desired application performance in software. Multimedia algorithm designers need to be aware of the advantages and limitations of different implementation technologies in order to make the best algorithmic choices.
Nikil Dutt is professor of computer science and a member of the Center for Embedded Computer Systems (CECS) at the University of California at Irvine. He received his PhD in CS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1989. His research lies at the intersection of compilers, architectures and computer-aided design, with a specific focus on the exploration, evaluation and design of domain-specific embedded systems. He is the author of five books on the topics of high-level synthesis, memory architecture exploration and functional validation of programmable embedded systems. He received Best Paper Awards at several conferences (CHDL89, CHDL91, VLSIDesign2003 and CODES+ISSS 2003) and currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems (TODAES) and as Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Embedded Computer Systems (TECS).
Wayne Wolf is professor of electrical engineering at Princeton University. Before joining Princeton in 1989, he was with AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey. He received the B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Stanford University in 1980, 1981, and 1984, respectively. His research interests include embedded computing, VLSI systems, and multimedia information systems. He is the author of Computers as Components, FPGA-Based System Design, and Modern VLSI Design (for which he won the ASEE Frederick E. Terman Award). Wolf has been elected to Phi Beta Kappa and Tau Beta Pi. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and ACM, an IEEE Computer Society Golden Core Member, and a member of the SPIE and ASEE.