Lecture: The Seven Wonders of Computer Arithmetic

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Date/Time:Thursday, 15 Oct 2009 from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm
Location:Auditorium, Howe Hall
Cost:free
Phone:515-294-2664
Channel:College of Engineering
Categories:Lectures
Actions:Download iCal/vCal | Email Reminder
Earl Swartzlander, University of Texas, Austina, part of the ECpE distinguished lecture series.

Abstract: There are many seminal concepts in computer arithmetic that collectively enable the achievement of incredibly high levels of performance in current computers. In this seminar, seven key concepts are identified. They include the twos complement number system, carry lookahead adders, Booth multipliers, Wallace multipliers, Newton-Raphson and Goldschmidt iterative dividers, and the IEEE Standard for floating-point arithmetic.

Although some of these ideas are relatively new (for example, carry lookahead adders, Booth multipliers, Wallace multipliers, and Goldschmidt dividers date from the 1950s) while others (the twos complement number system and the Newton-Raphson dividers can be traced back to hundreds of years ago). Finally, the IEEE Standard is a political accomplishment as much as a technical wonder.

Speaker biography: Earl E. Swartzlander, Jr., is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Previously, he worked at TRW Defense and Space Systems (1975 to 1990), where he most recently was the director of independent research and development for the TRW Defense Systems Group. His research interests are in application-specific processor design and the interaction between VLSI technology and computer architecture. These areas involve computer arithmetic, VLSI development, and digital signal processor implementation.

He is the author or coauthor of more than 60 refereed journal papers, 250 refereed conference papers, 30 book chapters, and one book. He has edited seven books. He is currently the hardware area editor for ACM Computing Reviews. Previously, he was an associate editor of the IEEE Transactions on Computers, IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering, and IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, as well as the editor-in-chief of the IEEE Transactions on Computers and the founding editor-in-chief of the Journal of VLSI Signal Processing.

He has been a member of the Board of Governors of the IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Signal Processing Society, and IEEE Solid-State Circuits Society. He also has been a member of the IEEE History Committee and IEEE Fellows Committee, and currently is the chair of the IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr., Education Medal Committee.

Swartzlander is a Fellow of IEEE and is a registered professional engineer. He obtained his doctorate in electrical engineering with the support of a Howard Hughes Doctoral Fellowship. He has been recognized as an Outstanding Electrical Engineer and a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus of Purdue University, and a Distinguished Engineering Alumnus of the University of Colorado. He was awarded the IEEE Computer Society's Golden Core Award and IEEE's Third Millennium Medal.