Right Hand Turn for Power Efficient Computing

Justin R. Rattner
Intel Fellow, Enterprise Platforms Group
Director, Microprocessor Research
Intel Labs

Abstract:

Following Moore's Law for microprocessors in the future will be limited by power delivery and dissipation, not by manufacturing or cost. Therefore, performance at any cost will not be an option, and delivering the highest performance in a given power envelope will be the challenge. We will examine power efficiency of microarchitectures and circuits employed, the process technologies used to fabricate these microprocessors, and then point out the inevitable right hand turn that one must make, to improve power efficiency in all these disciplines, to deliver the highest performance when constrained by power.

Bio:

Justin Rattner is an Intel Fellow, Enterprise Platforms Group and Director, Microprocessor Research, Intel Labs. His current responsibilities include advanced circuit, microarchitecture, architecture, and programming systems research, as well as the prototyping and deep analysis of future computer applications and workloads.

In 1989, Rattner was named Scientist of the Year by R&D Magazine for his leadership in parallel and distributed computer architecture. In December 1996, Rattner was featured as Person of the Week by ABC World News for his visionary work on the Department of Energy ASCI Red System, the first computer to sustain one trillion operations per second (one teraFLOPS) and the fastest computer in the world between 1996 and 2000. In 1997, Rattner was honored as one of the Computing 200, the 200 individuals having the greatest impact on the U.S. computer industry today, and subsequently profiled in the book Wizards and Their Wonders from ACM Press.

Rattner has received two Intel Achievement Awards for his work in high performance computing and advanced cluster communication architecture. He is a longstanding member of Intel's Research Council and Academic Advisory Council. He currently serves as the Intel executive sponsor for Cornell University where he serves on the External Advisory Board for the School of Engineering.

Rattner joined Intel in 1973. He was named its first Principal Engineer in 1979 and its fourth Intel Fellow in 1988. Prior to joining Intel, Rattner held positions with Hewlett-Packard Company and Xerox Corporation. He received bachelor's and master's degrees from Cornell University in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science in 1970 and 1972, respectively.