中央研究院 資訊科學研究所

活動訊息

友善列印

列印可使用瀏覽器提供的(Ctrl+P)功能

Defining Computer 'Speed': An Unsolved Challenge

:::

Defining Computer 'Speed': An Unsolved Challenge

  • 講者John L. Gustafson 博士 (CTO of Ceranovo, Inc.)
    邀請人:何建明
  • 時間2015-07-01 (Wed.) 14:30 ~ 16:30
  • 地點資訊所新館106演講廳
摘要

The reason we use computers is their speed, and the reason we use parallel computers is that they're faster than single-processor computers. Yet, after 70 years of electronic digital computing, we still do not have a solid definition of what computer 'speed' means, or even what it means tobe 'faster.' Unlike measures in physics, where the definition of speed is rigorous and unequivocal, in computing it has no theoretical foundationthat is universally accepted. As a result, computer customers have made purchases misguided by dubious information, computer designers have optimized their designs for the wrong goals, and computer programmers have chosen methods that optimize the wrong things. This talk describes why some of the obvious and historical ways of defining 'speed' haven't served us well, and the things we've learned in the struggle to find a definition that works.

BIO

John L. Gustafson is an American computer scientist, chiefly known for his work in High Performance Computing (HPC) such as the invention of Gustafson's Law, introducing the first commercial computer cluster, leading the reconstruction of the Atanasoff–Berry Computer, inventing theunum number format and computation system, and several awards for computer speedup. He was the Chief Product Architect and Senior Fellow at AMD, and previously held the distinguished positions of Director of Intel Labs, CEO of Massively Parallel Technologies, Inc. and CTO at ClearSpeed Technology. Dr. Gustafson holds applied mathematics degrees from the California Institute of Technology and Iowa State University.