Josep Torrellas
Encyclopedia
Josep Torrellas is Professor and Willett Faculty Scholar in the Department of Computer Science and a research faculty for the Universal Parallel Computing Research Center
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. Torrellas' research area is computer architecture
, focusing on speculative multithreading, multiprocessor
organization, integration of processors and memory, and architectural support for software debuggability and machine reliability. He has been involved in the Stanford DASH and the Illinois Cedar multiprocessor projects, and led the Illinois Aggressive COMA
and FlexRAM Intelligent Memory projects.
Torrellas has contributed to many NSF
, DARPA and DOE
funding initiatives. The Aggressive COMA research project was selected as one of the "Eight Point-Design Studies" that DARPA, NSF, NSA and NASA supported in the mid-nineties in a nationwide effort to accelerate the arrival of a petascale
machine. He has received as lead PI several multi-million dollar NSF grants, and is the lead PI of two medium ITR grants. He has directed projects in several DARPA initiatives, including the recent "Polymorphous Computer Architectures" (PCA), and "High Productivity Computing Systems
" (HPCS). In the HPCS program, he is playing a leading role in helping define the architecture of IBM's PERCS
multiprocessor (POWER7
). He is also involved in DOE's Extreme Scale Computation initiative.
Torrellas has been at the University of Illinois since receiving his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University
in 1992. He also spent a sabbatical year as Research Staff Member at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center. Torrellas is an IEEE
and ACM
Fellow and member of the National Computational Science Alliance (NCSA) and the DOE Illinois Center for the Simulation of Advanced Rockets
(CSAR). He is currently the Chairman of IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Architecture (TCCA), an Associate Editor of the ACM
Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization (TACO), and a Member of the Advisory Board of the ECE Department, University of Rochester
. He previously served as Vice-Chairman and Member of the Advisory Board of IEEE TCCA from 1998 to 2005. Torrellas has received an NSF Young Investigator Award, an NSF RIA, and an IBM Partnership Award.
UPCRC Illinois
UPCRC Illinois is one of two Universal Parallel Computing Research Centers launched in 2008 by Microsoft Corporation and Intel Corporation to accelerate the development of mainstream parallel computing for consumer and business applications such as desktop and mobile computing...
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. Torrellas' research area is computer architecture
Computer architecture
In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
, focusing on speculative multithreading, multiprocessor
Multiprocessing
Multiprocessing is the use of two or more central processing units within a single computer system. The term also refers to the ability of a system to support more than one processor and/or the ability to allocate tasks between them...
organization, integration of processors and memory, and architectural support for software debuggability and machine reliability. He has been involved in the Stanford DASH and the Illinois Cedar multiprocessor projects, and led the Illinois Aggressive COMA
Cache only memory architecture
Cache only memory architecture is a computer memory organization for use in multiprocessors in which the local memories at each node are used as cache. This is in contrast to using the local memories as actual main memory, as in NUMA organizations.In NUMA, each address in the global address...
and FlexRAM Intelligent Memory projects.
Torrellas has contributed to many NSF
National Science Foundation
The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
, DARPA and DOE
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
funding initiatives. The Aggressive COMA research project was selected as one of the "Eight Point-Design Studies" that DARPA, NSF, NSA and NASA supported in the mid-nineties in a nationwide effort to accelerate the arrival of a petascale
Petascale
In computing, petascale refers to a computer system capable of reaching performance in excess of one petaflop, i.e. one quadrillion floating point operations per second. The standard benchmark tool is LINPACK and Top500.org is the organisation which tracks the fastest supercomputers...
machine. He has received as lead PI several multi-million dollar NSF grants, and is the lead PI of two medium ITR grants. He has directed projects in several DARPA initiatives, including the recent "Polymorphous Computer Architectures" (PCA), and "High Productivity Computing Systems
High Productivity Computing Systems
High Productivity Computing Systems is a DARPA project for developing a new generation of economically viable high productivity computing systems for national security and industry in the 2002-2010 timeframe....
" (HPCS). In the HPCS program, he is playing a leading role in helping define the architecture of IBM's PERCS
PERCS
PERCS , officially known as the Power 775, is IBM's answer to DARPA's High Productivity Computing Systems initiative....
multiprocessor (POWER7
POWER7
POWER7 is a Power Architecture microprocessor released in 2010 that succeeded the POWER6. POWER7 was developed by IBM at several sites including IBM's Rochester, MN; Austin, TX; Essex Junction, Vermont; T. J. Watson Research Center, NY; Bromont, QC and Böblingen, Germany laboratories...
). He is also involved in DOE's Extreme Scale Computation initiative.
Torrellas has been at the University of Illinois since receiving his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
in 1992. He also spent a sabbatical year as Research Staff Member at IBM's T.J. Watson Research Center. Torrellas is an IEEE
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is a non-profit professional association headquartered in New York City that is dedicated to advancing technological innovation and excellence...
and ACM
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
Fellow and member of the National Computational Science Alliance (NCSA) and the DOE Illinois Center for the Simulation of Advanced Rockets
Center for the Simulation of Advanced Rockets
The Center for Simulation of Advanced Rockets is an interdisciplinary research group at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and is part of the United States Department of Energy's Advanced Simulation and Computing Program...
(CSAR). He is currently the Chairman of IEEE Technical Committee on Computer Architecture (TCCA), an Associate Editor of the ACM
Association for Computing Machinery
The Association for Computing Machinery is a learned society for computing. It was founded in 1947 as the world's first scientific and educational computing society. Its membership is more than 92,000 as of 2009...
Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization (TACO), and a Member of the Advisory Board of the ECE Department, University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
. He previously served as Vice-Chairman and Member of the Advisory Board of IEEE TCCA from 1998 to 2005. Torrellas has received an NSF Young Investigator Award, an NSF RIA, and an IBM Partnership Award.
Current Research Affiliations
- Universal Parallel Computing Research Center (UPCRC) at Illinois
- i-acoma Architecture Group at the University of Illinois
- Illinois OpenSPARC Center