Prof HJ Siegel Seminar

An Introduction to Research Issues in Heterogeneous Parallel and Distributed Computing

Hosted by MeRC (Monash eResearch Centre) and MessageLab (Monash eScience Grids Lab)

Date and Time: Wednesday 11 June 2008 at 2pm

Seminar Venue: Seminar Room H7.84, 7th Floor, Building H, Caulfield

Abstract:
In heterogeneous parallel and distributed computing environments, a suite of different machines is interconnected to provide a variety of computational capabilities. These capabilities are used to execute a collection of tasks with diverse computational requirements. The execution times of a task may vary from one machine to the next, and tasks must share the computing and communication resources of the system. An important research problem for heterogeneous computing is how assign tasks to machines and schedule the order of their execution to maximize some given performance criterion. An overview of a conceptual model of what this involves will be given. An example of resource allocation research will be presented. The example involves an ad hoc grid environment, with energy constrained mobile computing devices that could be used in a disaster management scenario. Open problems in the field of heterogeneous parallel and distributed computing will be discussed. “Alligators” that make heterogeneous computing challenging will be shown.

Speaker:
H. J. Siegel is the George T. Abell Endowed Chair Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Colorado State University (CSU), where he is also a Professor of Computer Science. He is Director of the CSU Information Science and Technology Center (ISTeC), a university-wide organization for enhancing CSU’s activities pertaining to the design and innovative application of computer, communication, and information systems. From 1976 to 2001, he was a Professor at Purdue University. He received two B.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and the M.A., M.S.E., and Ph.D. degrees from Princeton University. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and a Fellow of the ACM. Prof. Siegel has co-authored over 350 published technical papers in the areas of parallel and distributed computing and communications. He was a Coeditor-in-Chief of the Journal of Parallel and Distributed Computing, and was on the Editorial Boards of the IEEE Transactions on Parallel and Distributed Systems and the IEEE Transactions on Computers.

E-mail: HJ@ColoState.edu             www.engr.colostate.edu/~hj

Faculty Contact: Rob Gray 0411022041 or rob.gray@infotech.monash.edu.au