Optical/Photonics Computing System (OPTSys) Seminar Series
A series of talks from experts in optics and photonics
In a world where Moore's law is encountering the physical limits and electronic circuits, after six decades of development, face formidable barriers, the pursuit of novel computing paradigms has become paramount. Among these frontiers, optical and photonic systems have emerged as a driving force. Yet, they present a unique challenge – the complexity of understanding optical/photonic systems, governed by Maxwell's equations, surpasses that of electronic circuits.
This is where our seminar series steps in! We have assembled some of the brightest minds from both industry and academia to bring the cutting-edge field of optical/photonic systems to your doorstep. Whether you are an enthusiastic junior student seeking to explore the wonders of this domain or a seasoned faculty member aiming to delve deeper, our seminars offer an ideal platform. Expect dynamic discussions, inspiration, and the potential for fruitful collaborations. Join us in shaping the future of computing. The future has arrived, and it's illuminated by optics!
To stay updated as an audience member, please subscribe to our mailing list. If you're interested in presenting, please reach out to us at optsys23@gmail.com. Explore our archive of past seminars, complete with recorded videos and presentation slides, to see the history of our engaging sessions.
Upcoming Seminar
Title: Scaling Up Photonic Tensor Cores with Device-Circuit-Signaling Co-Design
Abstract: Photonic tensor cores have grown in popularity over the past few years for accelerating tensor-based kernels found in abundance in deep learning workloads because they offer potentially massive spatial parallelism (across wavelengths and waveguides), sub-nanosecond-scale start-to-solution latency, and near-dissipation-free dynamic operation. However, several shortcomings severely limit the practically achievable parallelism, processing throughput, and energy efficiency in existing photonic tensor core architectures. For instance, the wavelength-selective analog operation of existing designs makes them highly prone to crosstalk noise and other optical signal penalties and losses. These penalties and losses interplay with an already tight optical power budget to incur strong trade-offs for achievable spatial parallelism, operating data rate, and analog precision. This talk will present how co-designing low-dissipation, low-noise, and high-speed electro-photonic devices, crosstalk- minimal circuit organizations, and mixed unary/analog signaling methods can overcome these shortcomings to realize photonic tensor cores with scaled-up throughput and energy-efficiency benefits for accelerating tensor-based kernels found in a variety of deep learning workloads.
Biography: Dr. Ishan Thakkar is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY. He received his Ph.D. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins, CO.
His research broadly focuses on designing and optimizing unconventional (more-than-Moore) architectures and technologies for energy-efficient, reliable, and secure computing. More specific more-than-Moore computing technology interests of his include integrated electro-photonics, in- memory computing, mixed analog/stochastic/unary computing, monolithic 3D (M3D) integration, and neuromorphic in-materia computing.
Dr. Thakkar has 55+ peer-reviewed publications in top journals and premier conferences. His research contributions have been recognized with 6 Best Paper Awards and Nominations from IEEE/ACM-sponsored peer-reviewed journals and conferences. He also received the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the IEEE/ACM CODES+ISSS conference at ESWEEK 2022. He has served on 10+ chaired positions in organizing committees of various IEEE/ACM conferences/workshops. He has been a technical program committee member of 30+ premier IEEE/ACM conferences. He is currently an Associate Editor for the IEEE TCVLSI Newsletter. He serves in the ACM SIGDA Executive Team as the Social Media Chair.
Date and Time: August 9th, 2024, 10:00 am - 11:00 am (U.S. Eastern Time)
Zoom Link: https://mit.zoom.us/j/94822329083
Organizers
Acknowledgment
This seminar was made possible through the generous contributions of our presenters and the active participation of our audience. Particualrly, we would like to extend our gratitude to the following individuals for their invaluable help in refining this seminar and making it accessible to a wider audience: Hanrui Wang.