Title: Rethinking Compilation in a Heterogeneous World

Abstract: Moore’s Law has been the main driver behind the extraordinary success of computer systems. However, with the technology roadmap showing a decline in transistor scaling and hence the demise of Moore’s law, computer systems will be increasingly specialised and diverse. The consistent ISA contract is beginning to break down. As it stands, software will simply not fit. Current compiler technology, whose role is to map software to the underlying hardware is incapable of doing this. This looming crisis requires a fundamental rethink of how we design, program and use heterogeneous systems. This talk examines new ways of tackling heterogeneity so that, rather than deny and fear the end of Moore’s law, we embrace and exploit it.

Bio: Michael O’Boyle is a Professor of computer science at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his work in incorporating machine learning into compilation and parallelization, automating the design and construction of optimizing technology. He has published over 100 papers and received three best paper awards. He was presented with the ACM CGO Test of Time award in 2017. He is a founding member of HiPEAC, the Director of the ARM Research Centre of Excellence at Edinburgh and Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Pervasive Parallelism. He is a senior EPSRC Research Fellow and a Fellow of the BCS.