ACiD-WG Workshop

Torino, Italy

January 26-27, 1998

The Torino workshop will be the fourth major event in the new ACiD-WG series, the working group having organized a workshop, Groningen, September 96, sponsored an international symposium (ASYNC'97), Eindhoven, April 97, and organized a summer school, Lyngby, August 97.

The leading theme in this workshop will be the overall practicality of asynchronous circuit techniques to solve current and upcoming problems in electronic systems design. In particular, we will devote our attention to the following aspects:

1. The analysis of the requirements for a specification language for asynchronous circuits and systems. This language must satisfy several requirements: from being suitable to specify both distributed control and data computation; to being flexible enough to support different design styles; to having a solid underpinning in a mathematical model enabling analysis (both formal and simulation) and synthesis.

We will request presenters to explain, especially by means of examples, what they would require (if they are designers), or what they could offer (if they specialize in CAD support). In the next month, we will collect from ACiD-WG members examples to illustrate the main issues, and we will distribute them in advance to foster the exchange of ideas.

We will also organize a short tutorial on the VHDL language, with special attention to its more formal asynchronous specification aspects (if any...).

2. The exploration of the impact on asynchronous design of the evolution of integrated circuit technology (a.k.a. DSM). See e.g. the Sematech Roadmap at
   http://www.sematech.org/public/roadmap/doc/toc.html
   the VSI alliance at http://www.vsi.org/
   and the MARCO initiative at http://marco.fcrp.org/
   (check the Interconnect Report, that identifies asynchronous techniques as one of the means to tackle the growth of interconnect delays in DSM).

We will organize another short tutorial devoted to the implications of technology and physical design (placement and routing) on the asynchronous circuit models used for analysis and synthesis.

We will request presenters to explain why (or why not) and how models developed in the late 60's can still be considered adequate, what architectural solutions are required in order to achieve high performance, predictability, decoupling between logical and physical design, low power consumption and more.

3. The opportunity for design experiments in low power design, as part of the Design Clusters action (2.28 of the 1997 Esprit work programme).

The workshop will also be an occasion to introduce a new member of the ACID-WG Technical Management Committee (TMC), Marc Renaudin, and to plan future activities for the working group.

Prospective participants to the workshop should apply immediately. Registration is free, but the number of places is limited. Individuals from member organizations should first contact their TMC representative. Some travel bursaries are available for participants from organizations that are not members of ACiD-WG.

Venue

The workshop will take place at the Hotel Genova, Via Sacchi, 14/b, 10128 Torino, Italy.

The phone number is +39-11-562.94.00 and the FAX number is +39-11-562.98.96 (they also have a sort of WEB site at http://www.arpnet.it/~aiat/hotbwges.htm).

The hotel is in front of the main railway station, Torino Porta Nuova.

The shuttle bus from the airport stops right in front of the hotel, and runs every 30-45 minutes (schedule in Italian at http://www.comune.torino.it/servizi/trasporti/ted30a01.htm; ``andata'' is from Torino to the airport, ``ritorno'' is from the airport to Torino).

The hotel is within walking distance (approximately 15 minutes) from Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129, Torino, Italy (see http://www.polito.it/infoviag/torino/ducaabru/enindex.html for information about how to reach Politecnico). The facilities there can be used to access e-mail, do demos, and so on. Unfortunately the auditorium is undergoing major renovation, and hence we will hold the workshop sessions at Hotel Genova.

The end of January is fairly cold in Torino, but it generally offers excellent skiing opportunities (interested parties should contact the organizers in advance).

Proposals for presentation

Prospective participants are encouraged to submit proposals for a 25 minute (or longer) presentation, preferably (but not exclusively) connected with one of the themes above. They should send by e-mail a 1-page abstract to the organizers by December 20, 1997.

Handouts

Workshop handouts will be composed, containing abstracts of presentations and copies of overhead foils. In order to distribute handouts at the workshop, speakers will be requested to send copies of their overhead foils in advance. This record of the proceedings of the workshop will subsequently be made available as a technical report.

Local arrangements and organization

The number of participants will be limited to approximately 40. Early registration is therefore recommended. The final registration deadline is December 20th, 1997. Applicants will receive notification of acceptance or rejection of participation in due course.

We recommend that you stay at Hotel Genova. The rate per night is ITL 135.000 for a single room and 170.000 for a double room, including breakfast. A block of rooms has been reserved for Sunday and Monday night. On Sunday evening there will be a reception at Hotel Genova, and on Monday night a workshop dinner (location to be determined). Reservations can be made through the host organization by the attached registration form.

Workshop organizers:

Local arrangements:

Registration form

To be returned to the workshop organizers at Torino before December 20th, 1997.
Name : ....................................................................................................................
Organization : ........................................................................................................
Address : ................................................................................................................
City and post code : ...............................................................................................
Country : ................................................................................................................
Phone : ...................................................................................................................
Fax : .......................................................................................................................
E-mail : ..................................................................................................................

Presentation:

I will submit a proposal for a presentation with the following title :
............................................................................................................
............................................................................................................
Proposals should be submitted before December 20th, 1997.

Travel Bursary:

I wish/do not wish to apply for a travel bursary
Delete as appropriate. (Not applicable if your organization is member of ACiD-WG.)

Hotel reservation:

I would like a room to be reserved, as follows:

Single room:	....	Double room:	....
Day of arrival:	..........................	Number of nights:	................

Dinner and lunches:

Vegetarian: .....