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Comments on Development-Oriented vs Basic Research. Prof. Jason Cong cong@cs.ucla.edu Computer Science Department University of California, Los Angeles. Is There Basic Research In Computer Science. What is basic research? Understanding the nature and discovering the ultimate truth
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Comments on Development-Oriented vs Basic Research Prof. Jason Cong cong@cs.ucla.edu Computer Science Department University of California, Los Angeles
Is There Basic Research In Computer Science • What is basic research? • Understanding the nature and discovering the ultimate truth • Without consideration of practical implication or commercial impact • With exception of theory, most of computer science is applied research, not basic research • But there is a lot to leverage from basic research • Examples from my research areas in computer-aided design
F F 3,4,5 H1 PLB1 24-48 Memory cells ( > 4 or 5 inputs) H Xilinx 4000 CLB 40 Memory cells ( > 5 inputs) G G S F 3,4 H PLB2 24 Memory cells ( > 4 inputs) PLB3 28,36 Memory cells ( > 4 inputs) H G G Characterization of Programmable Logic Blocks for Lookup-Table (LUT) based FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate-Arrays) Each box is a k-input look-up table, can implement of any Boolean function up to k inputs UCLA VLSICAD LAB
Use of Theory of Functional Decomposition • We’d like to answer the questions: f(x1,x2,…,xn) = g(y1(x1,…,xk),…,ym(x1,…,xk),xk+1,xk+2,…,xn)) • Ashenhurst Decomposition (1959) • Roth-Karp Decomposition (1962) • Recent improvement using Binary Decision Diagram (BDD)
Given problem Problem size decreases Interpolation & Relaxation (optimization) Coarsening(Clustering) Multilevel Optimization Framework • Successful in many applications • Originally developed for partial differential equations (PDEs) • Recent success in VLSI CAD: partitioning, placement, routing • Collaboration of Tony Chan (UCLA Math)
How to Best Leverage Basic Research ? • Inter-discipline research is very important • Are we aware what’s going on in basic research? • How and who will bridge the gap? • A broad education of students is very important • Be able to understand and appreciate basic research
Short-Term vs. Long-Term Applied Research • Need to focus on long-term applied research • 5 -15 years beyond immediate application • Pre-competitive • Example: the invention of Internet • 1st node of arpa-net built at UCLA in 1969 • It is not easy to identify long-term research in an exponential growing field • Law of exponential power: Every generation of advancement is larger than the sum of all previous generations • What takes to do long-term applied research • Vision and good taste • Sufficient funding • Reward and understanding of risk taking