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LConstantine
The h/w-s/w boundaries blur ever more, as the Stuxnet software worm used to ...
Gil Russell
Intel ramps hardware-software codesign research
Peter Clarke
3/17/2011 6:27 AM EDT
SHANNON, Ireland – A hardware-software codesign project being conducted within Intel Labs Europe is going well – so well that Intel is not prepared to say much about it but has quadrupled the number of people working on the project. The project is led by researchers based in Barcelona, Spain, and Intel's center for many-core processor research at Braunschweig, Germany.
"It's a closed research project but it's going really well," said Professor Martin Curley, director of Intel Labs Europe, speaking at a press event here.
Intel Labs Europe (ILE) was founded early in 2009 as a network of aligned research projects and locations across Europe. Some of the research is open, where Intel invites partners into collaborate or participates in or hosts European Union funded research. Elsewhere Intel operates a closed R&D policy, and the closer Intel gets to deploying developments the more closed it becomes.
Professor Curley said that the codesign research project has gone so well that the research effort has been upgraded from 50 engineers within Intel Labs Europe to 200 engineers across Intel globally. "With 200 engineers, you can get a lot done," Professor Curley said.
It is thought that the emphasis of the research is on formalizing original specifications for systems and automating the elaboration of the design through behavioral descriptions and on down to more familiar structural design tools. Professor Curley said there was an expectation that the results of this research could support Intel in the development of many-core system-on-chip (SoC) ICs.
ILE started in 2009 with an annual budget of about 100 million euro (about $140 million) and 800 people and has now grown to nearly 1,200 people and an annual budget of 130 million euro (about $180 million). It's scope includes 24 sites, from Ireland in the west to Israel in the east, and more than 250 research relationships, Professor Curley said.
Related links and articles:
Europe betting on payout from Intel Labs' gambit
Intel research embraces European IT goals
Research to reflect role of services in Intel's market model
Intel forms Intel Labs Europe with hubs in Dublin, Munich
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t.alex
3/17/2011 7:36 AM EDT
Hardware and software Co-design has always been a challenge and a topic for research. At times there is no clear boundary between hardware and software. Hence optimized design with consideration of both hardware and software is really crucial.
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Gil Russell
3/18/2011 7:21 AM EDT
"With 200 engineers, you can get a lot done," Professor Curley said.
One might say that running NOPs is also getting work done...,
Would be nice to get some NEWS about their activities...,
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LConstantine
3/21/2011 1:29 PM EDT
The h/w-s/w boundaries blur ever more, as the Stuxnet software worm used to attack the Natanz nuclear facilities demonstrated so well. But the ideas are far from new. In 2003 I designed a stuxnet-style attack on the U.S. (used in the Lior Samson novel, Web Games). In 1968-9, Modern Data published my series on integral hardware-software design, techniques used at Monsanto to design a real-time computer architecture, OS, and extended Fortran as a single system that could run circles around the competition.
I look forward to what comes out of these latest efforts.
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