R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet...

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R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineering Prof. Bruce Jacob Keystone Professor Director of Computer Engineering University of Maryland at College Park Career Day — Baltimore Polytechnic Institute — April 2010

Transcript of R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet...

Page 1: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineering

Prof. Bruce JacobKeystone Professor

Director of Computer EngineeringUniversity of Maryland at College Park

Career Day — Baltimore Polytechnic Institute — April 2010

Page 2: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Today’s Outline

1. Engineering careers in general

2. Embedded systems issues— why does everything break?

3. Computers & their memory systems— how do I make my computer faster?

4. Design as modern engineering entrepreneurship— my take on The World Is Flat … and guitars

Page 3: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

(Who Is This Old Guy?)• High school (GA & FL): salutatorian,

three-season athlete, into rock, law, sci-fi

• College (Harvard): astr/math, A/B student, one-season athlete, into music, food, art

• Teaching (Thayer): high-school math

• Industry (BT, PCM): software developer, system architect (employee #2)

• Grad school (Michigan): computer software and hardware … research

Page 4: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Points to Take Home

• Engineering rocks

• Challenging & important problems exist

• Electrical engineer ≠ electricianComputer engineer ≠ programmer

• Anything that is in your head today can (should) be in your hands tomorrow

• People are willing to pay you to think(being smart is only a disadvantage now)

Page 5: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

General Overview: Career Paths in

(E&C) Engineering

I of IV

Page 6: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Your Career OptionsCollege => Industry => Grad School => Industry => Research => Academics

Paths I Will Discuss (briefly):• Industry B.S. or M.S.***• Industry/Research Ph.D.• Academics Ph.D.***

*** Paths I have taken

Page 7: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Big PictureIn Computer & Electrical Engineering:

• Industry B.S. or M.S. Develop

• Industry/Research Ph.D. Design

• Academics Ph.D. Research Teach

Develop == BuildDesign == Justify Your Choices

Ph.Ds are paid to THINKMSs and BSs are paid to DO (mitigated by size of company)

Page 8: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Big PictureIndustry/BS Industry/PhD Academia

Salary Range (0yrs–10yrs)Job Security

Freedom

Respect

Visibility

Brief Job Description

Perks of the Position

$60K–120K $90K–150K $80K–150K

Okay Good Great

Little Some Lots

Lots Lots Little

None Little Lots

Develop DesignResearch &

Teach

Free coffee Stock optionsTalking to a

captive audience

Page 9: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Start-Up Companies• Enter at any level

• Flexible job description(room to move around)

• Flexible pay scales(SMALL possibility of LARGE pay-off)

• Collegiate atmosphere(working day == noon to 3am)

• Downside: RISK FACTOR(not advised for those w/ mortgage, children, etc. — mitigated by size & age of startup)

Page 10: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Big(ger) PictureStart-Up Company

Salary Range (0yrs–10yrs)Job Security

Freedom

Respect

Visibility

Brief Job Description

Perks of the Position

$50K–$120K or more

None (… to Lots)

Lots

Lots

None

Design, Build, Test, Maintain, Deal w/ Customer, whatever

Cool atmosphere, intriguing problems, stock options?

Perhaps bestof bothworlds?

Page 11: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

The Most Important Problem Today:

Embedded Systems

II of IV

Page 12: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

Page 13: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Characteristics

• Dedicated function (not general-purpose)

• Interact with environment (real-time)

• Resource-constrained (power, space, cost)

• Safety-critical (loss of life, property, etc.)

• Increasing pressure on time-to-market

THIS IS A BAD MIX

Page 14: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Examples Abound …

Official Trapped in Car After Computer Fails Mon May 12, 2003 09:44 AM ET

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Security guards smashed their way into an official limousine with sledgehammers on Monday to rescue Thailand's finance minister after his car's computer failed.

Suchart Jaovisidha and his driver were trapped inside the BMW for more than 10 minutes before guards broke a window. All doors and windows had locked automatically when the computer crashed, and the air-conditioning stopped, officials said.

'We could hardly breathe for over 10 minutes,' Suchart told reporters. 'It took my guard a long time to realize that we really wanted the window smashed so that we could crawl out. It was a harrowing experience.'

Page 15: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Examples Abound …

Microsoft Technology Hits the Road in BMW 7 Series

Microsoft Navigates the Automotive Industry, Enhances the Driver Experience

REDMOND, Wash. -- March 4, 2002

Page 16: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Problem: Components may be verifiable, but

the System is not

Page 17: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

A Tale of Two Design Flows

BehavioralDesign

StructuralDesign

PhysicalDesign

Fabrication,Deployment

Logic (RTL)Representation

SchematicDiagram

PhysicalLayout

Logic Libs & Synthesis Physical Libs, P & R Design Rule Checks

WorkingSilicon

VLSI Design Flow: characterized by strict design rules, verifiable physical design

Page 18: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

A Tale of Two Design Flows

BehavioralDesign

StructuralDesign

PhysicalDesign

Fabrication,Deployment

Logic (RTL)Representation

Logic Libs & Synthesis Physical Libs, P & R Design Rule Checks

module fibonacci(clk2, rst_l, out_w);

input clk2, rst_l;output [7:0] out_w;

reg [7:0] src1, out;wire [7:0] out_w = out;

always @(posedge clk2)begin if(!rst_l) begin src1 <= 1'd0; out <= 1'd1; end else begin src1 <= out_w; out <= src1 + out_w; endend

endmodule

Page 19: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

A Tale of Two Design Flows

BehavioralDesign

StructuralDesign

PhysicalDesign

Fabrication,Deployment

SchematicDiagram

Logic Libs & Synthesis Physical Libs, P & R Design Rule Checks

Page 20: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

BehavioralDesign

StructuralDesign

PhysicalDesign

Fabrication,Deployment

PhysicalLayout

Logic Libs & Synthesis Physical Libs, P & R Design Rule Checks

A Tale of Two Design Flows

Page 21: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

A Tale of Two Design Flows

BehavioralDesign

StructuralDesign

PhysicalDesign

Fabrication,Deployment

Logic Libs & Synthesis Physical Libs, P & R Design Rule Checks

WorkingSilicon

Page 22: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

A Tale of Two Design Flows

BehavioralDesign

StructuralDesign

PhysicalDesign

Fabrication,Deployment

Logic (RTL)Representation

SchematicDiagram

PhysicalLayout

Logic Libs & Synthesis Physical Libs, P & R Design Rule Checks

WorkingSilicon

VLSI Limitation: you can build WIRES or TRANSISTORS

VLSI Design Flow: characterized by strict design rules, verifiable physical design

Page 23: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

A Tale of Two Design Flows

EmbeddedApplication

Algorithm(Software)

ComponentDesign/Test

Integration,Deployment

FunctionalSpecification/s

HW/SW Co-Design Synthesis Models Open Problem

WorkingSystem

?

Embedded Design Flow: characterized by nonexistent design rules, ad hoc methods for system-level verification

Architecture(Hardware)

ComponentDesign/Test

ComponentDesign/Test

Page 24: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Examples Abound …

“System Level EMC Testing of Spacecraft,” Narvaez, EMC 2003.Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

Page 25: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

What I’m Known for: Computers and

Memory Systems

III of IV

Page 26: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Perspective

$CPU~10 Billion/s

~10 Million/s

~100 per sec

< 1Billion/s

Page 27: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

CPU/$

PrimerCPU/$

Outgoing bus request

MC

read data

read data

Read B

Write X, data

Read Z

Write Q, data

Read A

Write A, data

Read W

Read Z

Read Y AC

T

RD

PRE

RD

RD

PRE

PRE

AC

TW

R

WR

AC

TR

D

PRE ACTRDread data

beat

cmd

Page 28: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Napkin Math: Palm HD

• 1920 x 1080 x 36bx 60fps = 560MB/s (~1GB/s incl. ovhd)

• 3 x4 DDR800 = 1.2GB/s, 600mW

• Power budget = 500mW total (DRAM 10–20%)

Page 29: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Limit: Cost• CPUs: die area (& power)

Systems: pins & power (desktop: power is cost embedded: power is limit)

• FB-DIMM (Intel’s solution to the capacity problem) observed former at cost of latter … R.I.P. FBD

• Whither PERFORMANCE w/o limits? 10x at least

Page 31: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

More on Start-Ups: The Importance of (High-Tech) Design

IV of IV

Page 32: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Manufacturing as a Service

Important development in last decade:

Page 33: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

The Basic Idea

You Factory

Design Blueprint

Manufactured Device

Page 34: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

The Basic Idea

You

FactoriesDesign Blueprints

Manufactured Device

Assembly

Page 35: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Some Blueprints

Page 36: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

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Page 37: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

Pros & Cons• Idea already proven in

marketplace (shareware, boutique electronics)

• Win/win situation (even company failure is good résumé material)

• Low risk/reward ratio(e.g., design SW is free)

• Start soon

• Can’t possibly compete with big companies

• Might fail

• Can’t afford it

• Window of opportunity?

Bottom line: a path well worth exploring

Page 38: R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineeringblj/talks/Poly-Careers-2010.pdfNarvaez, EMC 2003. Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. What I’m Known for: Computers

R&D in Electrical & Computer Engineering

Prof. Bruce JacobKeystone Professor

Director of Computer Engineering

[email protected] bruce jacob

(btw, the one on wikipedia is my dad)➙