Customer Relationship Management News for Industry Pros
NewsFactor Network Sites:   NewsFactor.com Security CRM Business Sci-Tech Newsletters XML/RSS Feed  
   
Home CRM Systems Customer Service Sales & Marketing Contact Centers More Topics...
Chips & Processors
Average Rating:
Rate this article:  
Microsoft, Intel Fund Parallel-Computing Research Microsoft, Intel Fund Parallel-Computing Research
By Barry Levine
March 19, 2008 10:03AM

Bookmark and Share
Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers at the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will get $20 million from Microsoft and Intel to develop applications for multicore processors. Microsoft and Intel want the parallel-computing centers to develop "dramatic new applications."
 

Related Topics

Intel
Microsoft
Processors


In an effort to turbocharge progress in mainstream parallel computing, Intel and Microsoft announced funding Tuesday for two Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers. They said the centers are the first joint industry-university efforts of this scale in parallel computing. The software developed will be made available to the public.

Berkeley and Illinois

One center will be at the University of California, Berkeley, and the other at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Intel and Microsoft have committed $20 million over the next five years to fund the centers. UIUC will put up another $8 million, and Berkeley has applied for an additional $7 million from the state of California.

Multicore computer processors are common now, and the number of cores is steadily increasing. Intel research director Andrew Chien noted that Intel has already shown an 80-core research processor Relevant Products/Services, and the centers could develop "dramatic new applications." These new apps could involve visual interfaces, statistical analyses, search functions, mobile Relevant Products/Services applications, computer sensing, and new forms of computer-human interfaces.

Richard Shim, an analyst with industry research firm IDC, said parallel computing for even regular consumers and business users "is the future, and it's only a question of how far out."

He added that the challenge is how to use the powerful, multicore systems available on regular computers. "Hardware has definitely gotten ahead of software," he said.

Expertise Tapped

In evaluating where to locate the centers, Microsoft and Intel said they considered 25 top-tier institutions involved in parallel-computing research. They selected UC Berkeley and UIUC because of "their outstanding reputation in computing" and their specific expertise in parallel computing.

Berkeley's center will be directed by David Patterson, a professor of computer science described by the companies as a pioneering expert in computer architecture. Fourteen members of the UC Berkeley faculty will also be involved as well 50 doctoral students and postdoctoral researchers.

The UIUC center will be headed by Marc Snir, a professor of computer science and the Wen-Mei Hwu professor of electrical and computer engineering. He will be assisted by 20 other faculty members and 26 graduate students and researchers.

Snir said the centers "face the exciting challenge of making parallelism so easy to use that parallel programming becomes synonymous with programming."

Microsoft and Intel also described the challenge as bringing the benefits of tens or hundreds of cores to mainstream developers by making it easier to create solutions using parallel computing, through new platform and OS architectures, programming methods and tools, and application models.
 

Tell Us What You Think
Comment:

Name:



Advertisement


 Chips & Processors
1.   Data Storage Advances Are Looming
2.   HP, Hynix Partner To Develop ReRAM
3.   Intel Acquires Infineon's Wireless Unit
4.   Intel: 3Q Results May Disappoint
5.   AMD Details Bulldozer, Bobcat Cores


advertisement
Lyric Tech Could Change ComputingLyric Tech Could Change Computing
From binary processes to probabilities.
Average Rating:
AMD Details Bulldozer, Bobcat CoresAMD Details Bulldozer, Bobcat Cores
Memory controller to be overhauled.
Average Rating:
Smartphone Makers Hurting for ChipsSmartphone Makers Hurting for Chips
Chip shortage affects Apple's rivals.
Average Rating:
Product Information and Resources for Technology You Can Use To Boost Your Business

Enterprise Hardware Spotlight
Samsung Unleashes Its Galaxy Tab on Apple's iPad
Samsung introduced the Galaxy Tab, a tablet PC aimed at Apple's iPad, at the IFA electronics show in Germany. Samsung presented the tablet with a pun that cites a "new galaxy of possibilities."
 
Toshiba Will Offer Android-Based Folio 100 Tablet
The rapidly growing category of tablets has a new family member as Toshiba announced that its Folio 100, a 10.1-inch, Android 2.2-based tablet computer, will be on sale in Europe by the end of October.
 
New Sony E-Readers Have Touchscreens, Higher Prices
Facing competition from Amazon.com, Apple and Barnes & Noble, Sony has released updated models of its of e-readers, with touchscreen technology, limited wireless, and higher prices.
 

Navigation
CRM Daily
Home/Top News | CRM Systems | Customer Service | Sales & Marketing | Contact Centers | Customer Data | CRM Press Releases
NewsFactor Network Enterprise I.T. Sites
NewsFactor Technology News | Enterprise Security Today | CRM Daily

NewsFactor Business and Innovation Sites
Sci-Tech Today | NewsFactor Business Report

NewsFactor Services
FreeNewsFeed | Free Newsletters | Free Whitepapers | XML/RSS Feed

About NewsFactor Network | How To Contact Us | Article Reprints | Careers @ NewsFactor | Services for PR Pros | Top Tech Wire | How To Advertise

Privacy Policy | Terms of Service
© Copyright 2000-2010 NewsFactor Network. All rights reserved. Article rating technology by Blogowogo. Member of Accuserve Ad Network.