Issues in design of complex Multi-Core Systems
October 20-22, 2010 - Bangalore.

The advent of multi-core processors has changed the way computing is being offered to users. There has been a fundamental difference in the way systems need to be architected and designed, so as to make use of the new generation of processors. Suddenly, system designers have to grapple with various complex issues, so that optimum use can be made of these new high-performance computing blocks. The criticality of well designed and well-architected software has also come to the fore like never before. Previous paradigms no longer hold true, as the enormous compute power available cannot be efficiently harnessed using the older techniques of programming.

This conference attempts to put these challenges in context and raise the questions that product designers must resolve before they embark on designing products using these multi-core processors. These range from issues in selection of the processor, to issues in design of complex software systems, and finally to the important parameters to be kept in mind to devise test suites, so that the resulting system is robust and will not lead to embarrassing recalls or defects in the field.

Topics (Preliminary):

• Approaches to and Types of Multi-core Processors
  

  • Multiple versus multi-core processors

  • Types of muti-cores processors

  • Selection criteria and pros and cons

• Issues in Systems Design
  

  • Choice of memory and bus architectures

  • Networking issues

  • Power management

• Software Issues
  

  • Choice of the right operating system

  • Memory management

  • Symmetric and asymmetric processing

  • Partitioning

  • Programming modes

  • Load Balancing

  • Scheduling techniques

  • License management

  • Migrating code from uni to multi-processor environments

• Testing

Target Audience
Architects, Program Managers, Product Managers in product companies or in software companies providing outsourced product development services to product companies. Professionals involved in providing architectural or design consultancy services