Binghamton University computer scientist gets grant for project to study computer energy use

BINGHAMTON — A Binghamton University researcher aims to slash the energy used by computing systems ranging from smart phones to data centers, the university says.

A new $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) will help launch Timothy Normand Miller’s “ambitious” new “introspective computing” project, Binghamton University  said in a news release. The funding comes from the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program, which awards the NSF’s most prestigious grants in support of new researchers.

Miller says manufacturing variations present a severe — and worsening — challenge for computer systems, according to the release. Semiconductor chips produced by the same factory do not perform identically, which means systems are designed to accommodate the worst chips.

He envisions using machine learning to predict a chip’s performance. “When you bring a chip online for the first time, it will monitor itself and dynamically adjust its own behavior,” Miller said in the release. “The chip will make sure it does the right thing on its own. That would improve not only energy efficiency but also the lifespan of the chip.”

What makes that such a big deal? Energy efficiency in chips is critical to extending the operation time of battery-powered devices, and it’s a huge factor in the cost of running larger systems, including data centers.

Current power-management solutions focus on large systems, said Miller, an assistant professor of computer science at Binghamton University. He added that his plan to work at the chip level offers more sophisticated control and a means of scaling the solution up to address systems of a variety of sizes.

Miller, who joined Binghamton University’s faculty in 2012 after earning a doctorate at Ohio State University, worked in private industry for more than 15 years. He said other disciplines — cognitive science, linguistics and experimental psychology, in particular — inspired this direction in his research.

Contact The Business Journal at news@cnybj.com