Publications and talks (citations)


Conference publications

  1. S. Jain, R. Kirk, E. S. Lubana, R. P. Dick, H. Tanaka, E. Grefenstette, T. Rocktaschel, and D. Krueger, “Mechanistically analyzing the effects of fine-tuning on procedurally defined tasks,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Learning Representations, May 2024, accepted. Pending publication. Notes: We find that fine tuning of deep neural networks has superficial impacts on capabilities, creating the illusion that they have been modified but leaving them intact to reappear, e.g., with further training.
  2. E. J. Bigelow, E. S. Lubana, R. P. Dick, H. Tanaka, and T. D. Ullman, “In-Context Learning Dynamics with Random Binary Sequences,” May 2024, accepted. Pending publication. Notes: Experimental study of the capabilities used by ChatGPT to produce pseudo-random number sequences and determine whether sequences are random. We find common human biases in the generation of pseudo-random numbers and sudden changes in capabilites with exposure to additional samples.
  3. M. Okawa, E. S. Lubana, R. P. Dick, and H. Tanaka, “Compositional abilities emerge multiplicatively: Exploring diffusion models on a synthetic task,” in Proc. Conf. on Neural Information Processing Systems, Dec. 2023, accepted. Pending publication. Notes: Demonstrates the manner in which spontaneous compositional learning relies on understanding constituent concepts in generative networks. Has implications for evaluating capabilities: high accuracy on basic concepts doesn't imply high accuracy for composed concepts. 26% acceptance rate for conference.
  4. Y. Shi, Y. Chen, M. Dong, X. Yang, D. Li, Y. Wang, R. P. Dick, Q. Lv, Y. Zhao, F. Yang, T. Lu, N. Gu, and L. Shang, “Train faster, perform better: Modular adaptive training in over-parameterized models,” in Proc. Conf. on Neural Information Processing Systems, Dec. 2023, accepted. Pending publication. Notes: Uses neural tangent kernel's principal eigenvalue to guide learning (back propagation) in modules to improve learning efficiency and resulting accuracy.
  5. T. Zhang and R. P. Dick, “Spatial-frequency network for segmentation of remote sensing images,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Image Processing, Oct. 2023. Notes: Neural network architecture for aerial image segmentation.
  6. E. S. Lubana, E. J. Bigelow, R. P. Dick, D. Krueger, and H. Tanaka, “Mechanistic Mode Connectivity,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Machine Learning, May 2023. Notes: We find that local minima in the loss landscape associated with different classification mechanisms are connected via (simple) quadratic paths requiring no hill climbing with implications for understanding and avoiding reliance on spurious mechanisms. 28% acceptance rate for conference.
  7. B. Zhang, V. Srinivas, Y. Zhang, and R. P. Dick, “LoRa Synchronized Energy-Efficient LPWAN,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Communications, May 2023. Notes: Energy-efficient multi-hop low-power wide-area networking technology for very long-range networks (spanning many 10s of kilometers).
  8. T. Zhang and R. P. Dick, “Image-based air quality forecasting through multi-level attention,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Image Processing, Oct. 2022. Notes: Multi-level attention method for vision-based air pollution forecasting.
  9. E. S. Lubana, P. Trivedi, D. Koutra, and R. P. Dick, “How do Quadratic Regularizers Prevent Catastrophic Forgetting: The Role of Interpolation,” in Proc. Conf. on Lifelong Learning Agents, Aug. 2022. Notes: Explains why quadratic regularizers prevent catastrophic forgetting in multi-task learning by implicitly interpolating current and previous values of model parameters in every training iteration.
  10. E. S. Lubana, C. I. Tang, F. Kawsar, R. P. Dick, and A. Mathur, “Orchestra: Unsupervised Federated Learning via Globally Consistent Clustering,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Machine Learning, July 2022. Notes: Privacy preserving vector clustering based federated learning method that benefits from distribution heterogeneity.
  11. Y. Chen, Y. Shi, D. Li, D. Li, Y. Wang, M. Dong, Y. Zhao, R. Dick, Q. Lv, F. Yang, and L. Shang, “Recursive Disentanglement Network,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Learning Representations, Apr. 2022. Notes: Disentangles neural network by propagating regulatory inductive bias recursively across the compositional feature space.
  12. E. S. Lubana, R. P. Dick, and H. Tanaka, “Beyond BatchNorm: Towards a Unified Understanding of Normalization in Deep Learning,” in Proc. Conf. on Neural Information Processing Systems, Dec. 2021. Notes: Analyzes nine deep neural network normalization techniques to determine the implications of their properties. Discusses these in the context of BatchNorm.
  13. Y. Chang, Y. Zhao, M. Dong, Y. Wang, Y. Lu, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, T. Lu, N. Gu, and L. Shang, “MemX: An Attention-Aware Smart Eyewear System for Personalized Moment Auto-capture,” in Proc. Int. Symp. on Wearable Computers, Sept. 2021. Notes: User attention aware camera glasses in the spirit of Vannevar Bush's Memex.
  14. E. Lubana and R. P. Dick, “A Gradient Flow Framework For Analyzing Network Pruning,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Learning Representation, May 2021, this is an arXiv preprint and the final version may have minor changes. Notes: A general gradient flow based framework that unifies state-of-the-art importance measures through the norm of model parameters. Accepted for spotlight presentation (3.8% acceptance rate for this category, 28.6% overall acceptance rate including posters).
  15. B. Simpson, E. Lubana, Y. Liu, and R. Dick, “Intelligent Scene Caching to Improve Accuracy for Energy-Constrained Embedded Vision,” in Proc. of the Conf. on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition Wkshps., June 2020, pp. 724–725. Notes: Change-based video data caching to reduce transfer in energy- and communication-constrained applications. Works better than H.264 in some cases.
  16. T. Zhang and R. P. Dick, “Estimation of multiple atmospheric pollutants through image analysis,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Image Processing, Sept. 2019. Notes: Image-based pollution estimation technique uses wavelength-dependent scattering and absorption properties to enable analysis of multi-pollutant systems and improve estimation accuracy.
  17. E. S. Lubana, R. P. Dick, V. Aggarwal, and P. M. Pradhan, “Minimalistic image signal processing for deep learning applications,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Image Processing, Sept. 2019. Notes: Describes early-stage image signal processing operations that enable high subsequent analysis accuracy with dramatically less time and energy consumption overheads than the conventional image signal processing pipeline.
  18. Y. Zhang, Q. Lv, D. Gao, S. Shen, R. P. Dick, M. Hannigan, and Q. Liu, “Multi-group encoder-decoder networks to fuse heterogeneous data for next-day air quality prediction,” in Proc. Int. Joint Conf. on Artificial Intelligence, Aug. 2019. Notes: Method of fusing air quality data from multiple sources for estimation and prediction.
  19. E. S. Lubana, V. Aggarwal, and R. P. Dick, “Machine Foveation: an application-aware compressive sensing framework,” in Proc. Data Compression Conf., Mar. 2019. Notes: Adaptive spatial, and spatial frequency sampling in machine vision applications reduces amount of data transferred and processed by 5× with at most 0.3% reduction in accuracy.
  20. D. Gao, Y. Zhang, Y. Zhao, Q. Lv, D. K. Henze, M. Hannigan, and R. P. Dick, “Analyzing tempo-spatial data series with graph convolutional neural network,” in Proc. American Geophysical Union Meeting, Dec. 2018. Notes: Air pollution prediction using graph-based convolutional networks.
  21. Y. Zhang, D. Gao, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, M. Hannigan, and D. K. Henze, “A novel data fusion model to integrate heterogeneous geo-sensory networks for air quality prediction,” in Proc. American Geophysical Union Conf., Dec. 2018. Notes: Sensor fusion for air quality estimation.
  22. E. S. Lubana and R. P. Dick, “Digital Foveation: an energy-aware machine vision framework,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2018. Multi-round and broadly applicable biologically inspired approach to machine vision achieves 5× improvement in energy efficiency with at most 0.65% reduction in accuracy, making sophisticated vision applications feasible on performance and energy-constrained embedded systems.
  23. Y. Ma, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, and X. S. Hu, “Improving reliability for real-time systems through dynamic recovery,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2018, pp. 515–520.
  24. Y. Ma, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, S. Wang, and X. S. Hu, “An on-line framework for improving reliability of real-time systems on `Big-Little' type MPSoCs,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2017, pp. 446–451. Notes: Technique to optimize both soft error rate and lifetime wear error rate in systems with highly heterogeneous cores.
  25. S. Arunachalam, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, and X. S. Hu, “An online wear state monitoring methodology for off-the-shelf embedded processors,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2015, pp. 114–123. Notes: Software-only DVFS and temperature control based technique to measure changes in timing slack over time in microprocessors, enabling wear progression monitoring.
  26. Y. Liu, D. R. Bild, D. Adrian, G. Singh, R. P. Dick, D. S. Wallach, and Z. M. Mao, “Performance and energy consumption analysis of a delay-tolerant network for censorship-resistant communications,” in Proc. Int. Symp. on Mobile Ad Hoc Networking and Computing, June 2015, pp. 257–266. Notes: 14.8% acceptance rate for conference. Analysis of an infrastructureless censorship- and blocking-resistant smartphone-to-smartphone communication system.
  27. Y. Ma, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, and X. S. Hu, “Improving lifetime of multicore real-time systems through global utilization control,” in Proc. Great Lakes Symp. VLSI, May 2015. Notes: 28% acceptance rate for conference.
  28. Y. Jiang, Y. Xiang, X. Pan, K. Li, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, L. Shang, and M. Hannigan, “Hallway based automatic indoor floorplan construction using room fingerprints,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, Sept. 2013, pp. 315–324. Notes: Technique to automatically map buildings using data from participant smartphones.
  29. Y. Xiang, R. Piedrahita, R. P. Dick, M. Hannigan, Q. Lv, and L. Shang, “A hybrid sensor system for indoor air quality monitoring,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Distributed Computing in Sensor Systems, May 2013, pp. 96–104. Notes: Technique to design hybrid stationary/mobile indoor air quality sensing system.
  30. L. Zhang, D. R. Bild, R. P. Dick, Z. M. Mao, and P. Dinda, “Panappticon: event-based tracing to optimize mobile application and platform performance,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Sept. 2013. Notes: Fine-grained event tracing infrastructure makes it easy to identify hardware and software performance bottlenecks in interactive smartphone applications.
  31. T. Chantem, X. Hu, R. Dick, and Y. Xiang, “Enhancing multicore reliability through wear compensation in online task assignment and scheduling,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2013. Notes: Reliability optimization via explicit consideration of lifetime wear processes during task scheduling and assignment.
  32. L. Zhang, M. S. Gordon, R. P. Dick, Z. M. Mao, P. Dinda, and L. Yang, “ADEL: an automatic detector of energy leaks for smartphone applications,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2012, pp. 363–373. Notes: Data-flow taint tracking based technique to detect energy wasting network communication.
  33. X. He, R. P. Dick, and R. Joseph, “Spatially- and temporally-adaptive communication protocols for zero-maintenance sensor networks relying on opportunistic energy scavenging,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2012, pp. 235–244. Notes: Describes system design and communication techniques for battery-less energy scavenging distributed sensing systems.
  34. Y. Jiang, X. Pan, K. Li, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, M. Hannigan, and L. Shang, “ARIEL: automatic Wi-Fi based boom fingerprinting for indoor localization,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, Sept. 2012, pp. 441–450. 19.3% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Automatic room fingerprinting and classification technique for indoor localization.
  35. M. Schuchhardt, B. Scholbrock, U. Pamuksuz, G. Memik, P. Dinda, and R. P. Dick, “Understanding the impact of laptop power saving options on user satisfaction using physiological sensors,” in Proc. Int. Symp. Low Power Electronics & Design, July 2012. Notes: Compares power management techniques by their impact on both power consumption and user satisfaction.
  36. Y. Xiang, L. S. Bai, R. Piedrahita, R. P. Dick, Q. Lv, M. P. Hannigan, and L. Shang, “Collaborative calibration and sensor placement for mobile sensor networks,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Information Processing in Sensor Networks, Apr. 2012, pp. 73–84. 15% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Technique to allow automatic calibration among mobile sensors with drifting measurement errors.
  37. Y. Jiang, K. Li, L. Tian, R. Piedrahita, Y. Xiang, O. Mansata, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, M. Hannigan, and L. Shang, “MAQS: a personalized mobile sensing system for indoor air quality monitoring,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Ubiquitous Computing, Sept. 2011, pp. 271–280. 16% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Mobile, personal air quality monitoring networked embedded system.
  38. D. R. Bild, Y. Liu, R. P. Dick, Z. M. Mao, and D. Wallach, “Using predictable mobility patterns to support scalable and secure MANETs of handheld devices,” in Proc. Int. Wkshp. on Mobility in the Evolving Internet Architecture, June 2011, pp. 13–18. Notes: Regularity in human motion can be used to simplify routing and location services in ad hoc wireless networks.
  39. S. P. Tarzia, P. A. Dinda, R. P. Dick, and G. Memik, “Indoor localization without Infrastructure using the acoustic background spectrum,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services, June 2011, pp. 155–168. 17.7% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Rooms have particular audio environments that smartphones and other computers can use to automatically determine their locations.
  40. S. P. Tarzia, P. A. Dinda, R. P. Dick, and G. Memik, “Demo: indoor localization without infrastructure using the acoustic background spectrum,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services, June 2011, pp. 385–386. Notes: Demonstration of acoustic background based localization system.
  41. L. Bai, R. P. Dick, P. Chou, and P. A. Dinda, “Automated construction of fast and accurate system-level models for wireless sensor networks,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2011, pp. 1083–1088. 24% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Technique to use low-level wireless network simulators to build models capturing the relationship between system-level design parameters and system-level quality metrics, such as network lifespan.
  42. L. Bai, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, and P. Chou, “Simplified programming of faulty sensor networks via code transformation and run-time interval computation,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2011, pp. 88–93. 24% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Compiler and run-time system make it easy for wireless sensor network users to see high-level impact of component faults without needing to explicitly consider each fault.
  43. Y. Chen, H. Zhou, and R. P. Dick, “Integrated circuit white space redistribution for temperature optimization,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2011, pp. 613–618. 24% acceptance rate for conference.
  44. S. Yazji, R. P. Dick, P. Scheuermann, and G. Trajcevski, “Protecting private data on mobile systems based on spatio-temporal analysis,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Pervasive and Embedded Computing and Communication Systems, Mar. 2011. 14% acceptance rate for conference. Notes: Machine learning technique to determine when a mobile computer leaves control of its owner.
  45. S. Yazji, R. P. Dick, P. Scheuermann, and G. Trajcevski, “Efficient intrusion detection for mobile devices using spatio-temporal mobility patterns,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Mobile and Ubiquitous Systems, Dec. 2010.
  46. X. Chen, C. Xu, and R. P. Dick, “Memory access aware on-line voltage control for performance and energy optimization,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2010, pp. 365–372. Notes: Describes a power management control technique that takes into account the impact of variation in memory access patterns on performance and power implications of DVFS state.
  47. L. Zhang, B. Tiwana, Z. Qian, Z. Wang, R. P. Dick, Z. M. Mao, and L. Yang, “Accurate online power estimation and automatic battery behavior based power model generation for smartphones,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2010, pp. 105–114. Notes: On-line component-specific power estimation for smartphones, including a battery state based model construction technique. One of five most cited articles in the history of the Embedded System Week federation of conferences as of 2013.
  48. Y. Xiang, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, X. S. Hu, and L. Shang, “System-level reliability modeling for MPSoCs,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2010, pp. 297–306. Notes: Infrastructure for modeling the impact of workload-dependent integrated circuit characteristics such as temperature and system architecture on reliability.
  49. X. Chen, C. Xu, R. P. Dick, and Z. M. Mao, “Performance and power modeling in a multi-programmed multi-core environment,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., June 2010, pp. 813–818. Notes: Hardware performance counter based technique for accurate on-line estimation of the performance and power consumption of interacting processes in a multi-programmed, multi-core environment. 24% acceptance rate for conference.
  50. S. P. Tarzia, P. A. Dinda, R. P. Dick, and G. Memik, “Display power management policies in practice,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Autonomic Computing and Communications, June 2010, pp. 51–60. Notes: Large-scale, real-world measurement data on effectiveness of various display power management policies, including our sonar-based technique. 26% acceptance rate for conference.
  51. C. Xu, X. Chen, R. P. Dick, and Z. M. Mao, “Cache contention and application performance prediction for multi-core systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Performance Analysis of Systems and Software, Mar. 2010, pp. 76–86. Notes: Cache interaction modeling technique allows the performance implications of sharing cache among processes assigned to different cores on the same processor to be accurately and efficiently predicted. 34% acceptance rate for conference.
  52. X. Chen, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “Properties of and improvements to time-domain dynamic thermal analysis algorithms,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2010, pp. 1165–1170. Notes: Won best paper award. Identified and corrected interesting problem with commonly used temporally adaptive architectural integrated circuit thermal analysis algorithms and proposed much faster algorithm. 27% acceptance rate for conference.
  53. J. S. Miller, P. A. Dinda, and R. P. Dick, “Evaluating a BASIC approach to sensor network node programming,” in Proc. Conf. on Embedded Networked Sensor Systems, Nov. 2009, pp. 155–168. Notes: Evaluates a BASIC variant for use in node-level programming of wireless sensor networks. 18% acceptance rate for conference.
  54. S. P. Tarzia, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, and G. Memik, “Sonar-based measurement of user presence and attention,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, Sept. 2009, pp. 89–92. Notes: Ultrasonic sonar is used to determine computer user attentiveness for use in display power management. 12% acceptance rate for conference.
  55. H. Long, Y. Liu, Y. Wang, R. P. Dick, and H. Yang, “Battery allocation for wireless sensor network lifetime maximization under cost constraints,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2009, pp. 705–712. Notes: Technique to optimize heterogeneous battery selection and distribution in wireless sensor networks. 26% acceptance rate for conference.
  56. T. Chantem, X. S. Hu, and R. P. Dick, “Online work maximization under a peak temperature constraint,” in Proc. Int. Symp. Low Power Electronics & Design, Aug. 2009, pp. 105–110. Notes: Power management conditions for on-line work maximization for temperature-constrained processors. 35% acceptance rate for conference.
  57. L. Zhang, L. S. Bai, R. P. Dick, L. Shang, and R. Joseph, “Process variation characterization of chip-level multiprocessors,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., July 2009, pp. 694–697. Notes: Uses software-based technique to characterize inter-core process variation in chip-level multiprocessors. 22% acceptance rate for conference.
  58. S. Yazji, X. Chen, R. P. Dick, and P. Scheuermann, “Implicit user re-authentication for mobile devices,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Ubiquitous Intelligence and Computing, July 2009, pp. 325–339. Notes: Machine learning technique for implicit reauthentication to identify theft of mobile computers. 28% acceptance rate for conference.
  59. S. P. Tarzia, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, and G. Memik, “Sonar-based measurement of user attention,” in Proc. USENIX Conf., June 2009, poster paper. Notes: Ultrasonic sonar is used to determine computer user attentiveness for use in display power management.
  60. C. Zhu, K. Li, Q. Lv, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “iScope: personalized multi-modality image search for mobile devices,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Mobile Systems, Applications, and Services, June 2009, pp. 277–290. Notes: Cooperative energy-efficient interactive image search system for mobile computers. 20% acceptance rate for conference.
  61. L. S. Bai, R. P. Dick, and P. A. Dinda, “Archetype-based design: sensor network programming for application experts, not just programming experts,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Information Processing in Sensor Networks, Apr. 2009, pp. 85–96. Notes: Language, compiler, and simulator to allow non-expert programmers to implement non-trivial wireless sensor networking applications. Compares with other languages via user studies. 18% acceptance rate for conference.
  62. D. R. Bild, G. Bok, and R. P. Dick, “Minimization of NBTI performance degradation using internal node control,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Apr. 2009, pp. 148–153. Notes: Combined use of input vector control and internal node control reduces NBTI-induced delay by 27% in sleep-mode functional units. 23% acceptance rate for conference.
  63. B. Lin, A. Mallik, P. Dinda, G. Memik, and R. P. Dick, “User and process-driven dynamic voltage and frequency scaling,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Performance Analysis of Systems and Software, Apr. 2009, pp. 11–22. Notes: User, process variation, and temperature aware power management technique. 28% acceptance rate for conference.
  64. Z. Li, J. Wu, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and Y. Sun, “Latency criticality aware on-chip communication,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Apr. 2009, pp. 1052–1057. Notes: Improvement to network-on-chip design uses regularity in traffic and varying latency criticalities to improve throughput and latency. 23% acceptance rate for conference.
  65. H. Long, Y. Liu, X. Fan, R. P. Dick, and H. Yang, “Energy-efficient spatially-adaptive clustering and routing in wireless sensor networks,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Apr. 2009, pp. 1267–1272. Notes: Note: Describes implications of interaction between clustering and compression on energy efficiency in wireless sensor networks. 23% acceptance rate for conference.
  66. L. Zhang and R. P. Dick, “Scheduled voltage scaling for increasing lifetime in the presence of NBTI,” in Proc. Asia & South Pacific Design Automation Conf., Jan. 2009, pp. 492–497. An error during submission left Li Shang off the author list, although he participated in this project. Changing the author list was against the policy of the conference. Therefore, Li Shang is not on the official author list. 33% acceptance rate for conference.
  67. D. R. Bild, S. Misra, T. Chantem, P. Kumar, R. P. Dick, X. S. Hu, L. Shang, and A. Choudhary, “Temperature-aware test scheduling for multiprocessor systems-on-chip,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2008, pp. 59–66. Notes: Multicore test scheduling algorithm that minimizes test application time under a constraint on peak integrated circuit temperature. 10.8% improvement in test application time compared to past work. 27% acceptance rate for conference.
  68. N. Allec, Z. Hassan, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and R. Yang, “ThermalScope: multi-scale thermal analysis for nanometer-scale integrated circuits,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2008, pp. 603–610. Notes: Unified Boltzmann transport and Fourier heat flow thermal model capable of nanoscale accuracy and efficient enough to handle an entire integrated circuit. One of 13 best paper award nominees out of 458 submitted papers. 27% acceptance rate for conference.
  69. A. Shye, Y. Pan, B. Scholbrock, J. S. Miller, G. Memik, P. Dinda, and R. P. Dick, “Power to the people: leveraging human physiological traits to control microprocessor frequency,” in Proc. Int. Symp. Microarchitecture, Nov. 2008, pp. 188–199. Notes: One of 8 best paper award nominees out of 210 submitted papers. Evaluation of power management technique based on measured physiological traits. 19% acceptance rate for conference.
  70. N. Liveris, H. Zhou, R. P. Dick, and P. Banerjee, “State space abstraction for parameterized self-stabilizing embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Embedded Software, Oct. 2008, pp. 11–20. Notes: This work seeks to improve the reliability of hardware/software systems. It is an abstraction technique that enables automated verification of self-stabilizing systems with an arbitrary number of processes. 20% acceptance rate for conference.
  71. K. Meng, R. Joseph, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Multi-optimization power management for chip multiprocessors,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Parallel Architecture and Compilation Techniques, Oct. 2008, pp. 177–186. Notes: On-line optimization of energy efficiency by controlling multiple architectural features. 19% acceptance rate for conference.
  72. A. Shye, B. Ozisikyilmaz, A. Mallik, G. Memik, P. A. Dinda, R. P. Dick, and A. N. Choudhary, “Learning and leveraging the relationship between architecture-level measurements and individual user satisfaction,” in Proc. Int. Symp. Computer Architecture, June 2008, pp. 427–438. Notes: Neural network models based on processor performance counter observations permit prediction of user satisfaction with power control policies, permitting 25% reduction in processor power. 14% acceptance rate for conference.
  73. X. Chen, L. Yang, H. Lekatsas, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “Design and implementation of a high-performance microprocessor cache compression algorithm,” in Proc. Data Compression Conf., Mar. 2008, pp. 43–52. Notes: Efficient compression algorithm and hardware design appropriate for use in microprocessor cache compression. Acceptance rate for conference not available.
  74. X. Chen, R. P. Dick, and A. Choudhary, “Operating system controlled processor-memory bus encryption,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2008, pp. 1154–1159. Notes: Operating system technique encrypts all processor–memory bus data transfers of protected processes without changes to hardware or applications. 24% acceptance rate for conference.
  75. L. S. Bai, H. Lekatsas, and R. P. Dick, “Adaptive filesystem compression for embedded systems,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2008, pp. 1374–1377. Notes: Technique to increase usable storage on embedded systems. Improves performance by 67% compared to currently-used technique: uniform compression. 24% acceptance rate for conference.
  76. T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, and X. S. Hu, “Temperature-aware scheduling and assignment for hard real-time applications on MPSoCs,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2008, pp. 288–293. Notes: Optimal formulation and efficient heuristic for temperature-aware real-time multiprocessor system-on-chip scheduling problem. 24% acceptance rate for conference.
  77. A. Mallik, J. Cosgrove, R. P. Dick, G. Memik, and P. Dinda, “PICSEL: measuring user-perceived performance to control dynamic frequency scaling,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, Mar. 2008, pp. 70–79. Notes: Video output based estimation of user-required performance level reduces laptop power consumption by 12%. 24% acceptance rate for conference.
  78. A. Shye, L. Yang, X. Chen, B. Ozisikylmaz, A. Mallik, B. Lin, G. Memik, R. P. Dick, and P. Dinda, “Empathic computer architectures and systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Architectural Support for Programming Languages and Operating Systems, Mar. 2008, wild and crazy ideas track. Notes: Proposes sensor-based estimation of computer user state.
  79. P. Zhou, Y. Ma, Z. Li, R. P. Dick, L. Shang, H. Zhou, X. Hong, and Q. Zhou, “3D-STAF: scalable temperature and leakage aware floorplanning for three-dimensional integrated circuits,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2007, pp. 590–597. Notes: Temperature-aware floorplanning and placement for three-dimensional stacked-die integrated circuits. 27% acceptance rate for conference.
  80. S. Kim, R. P. Dick, and R. Joseph, “Power deregulation: eliminating off-chip voltage regulation circuitry from embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2007, pp. 105–110. Notes: Technique to eliminate power regulation hardware from embedded chip multiprocessors. 31% acceptance rate for conference.
  81. C. Zhu, Z. P. Gu, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “Reliable multiprocessor system-on-chip synthesis,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2007, pp. 239–244. Notes: Temperature-aware reliability optimization techniques for use in multiprocessor system-on-chip synthesis. 31% acceptance rate for conference.
  82. C. Sun, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Three-dimensional multi-processor system-on-chip thermal optimization,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2007, pp. 117–122. Notes: Task assignment and voltage selection for three-dimensional stacked-wafer multiprocessor system-on-chip temperature and performance optimization. 31% acceptance rate for conference.
  83. C. Zhu, Z. P. Gu, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and R. Knobel, “Towards an ultra-low-power architecture using single-electron tunneling transistors,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., June 2007, pp. 312–317. Notes: One of 15 best paper award nominees out of 713 submitted papers. First work to evaluate the architectural implications of using single-electron tunneling transistors for numerous embedded and general-purpose processors. 23% acceptance rate for conference.
  84. P. Dinda, G. Memik, R. P. Dick, B. Lin, A. Mallik, A. Gupta, and S. Rossoff, “The user in experimental computer systems research,” in Proc. Wkshp. on Experimental Computer Science, June 2007, position paper. Notes: Indicates the importance of explicitly considering the user when designing computer systems.
  85. B. Lin, A. Mallik, P. Dinda, G. Memik, and R. P. Dick, “Power reduction through measurement and modeling of users and CPUs,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on Measurement and Modeling of Computer Systems, June 2007, pp. 363–364, poster paper. Notes: Directly monitoring user satisfaction to control processor dynamic voltage and frequency scaling policy permits 22% reduction in power consumption. 27% acceptance rate for conference.
  86. S. Jevtic, M. Kotowsky, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, and C. Dowding, “Lucid Dreaming: reliable analog event detection for energy-constrained applications,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Information Processing in Sensor Networks, Apr. 2007, pp. 350–359. Notes: Ultra-low-power event detection sensor interface technology permits 250× reduction in power consumption for event-driven applications such as structural integrity monitoring of buildings and bridges. 25% acceptance rate for conference.
  87. Y. Liu, R. P. Dick, L. Shang, and H. Yang, “Accurate temperature-dependent integrated circuit leakage power estimation is easy,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 2007, pp. 1526–1531. Notes: First work to clearly indicate thermal modeling conditions necessary and sufficient for accurate leakage estimation, resulting in reduced modeling complexity and orders of magnitude speedup compared with previous practice. 22% acceptance rate for conference.
  88. D. Zaretsky, G. Mittal, R. P. Dick, and P. Banerjee, “Balanced scheduling and operation chaining in high-level synthesis for FPGA designs,” in Proc. Int. Symp. Quality Electronic Design, Mar. 2007, pp. 595–601. Notes: Techniques to reduce critical timing paths during FPGA synthesis. 35% acceptance rate for conference.
  89. Y. Liu, H. Yang, R. P. Dick, H. Wang, and L. Shang, “Thermal vs. energy optimization for DVFS-enabled processors in embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Symp. Quality Electronic Design, Mar. 2007, pp. 204–209. Notes: Evaluates trade-offs between temperature and power for DVFS in distributed systems. 35% acceptance rate for conference.
  90. Y. Yang, C. Zhu, Z. P. Gu, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Adaptive multi-domain thermal modeling and analysis for integrated circuit synthesis and design,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2006, pp. 575–582. Notes: Unified steady-state, time-domain, and frequency-domain adaptive thermal analysis system using adaptation to speed up analysis while preserving accuracy. 23% acceptance rate for conference.
  91. L. S. Bai, L. Yang, and R. P. Dick, “Automated compile-time and run-time techniques to increase usable memory in MMU-less embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Compilers, Architecture & Synthesis for Embedded Systems, Oct. 2006, pp. 125–135. Notes: Compiler-assisted on-line data compression technique permits substantial increases in usable memory on MMU-less embedded systems, such as sensor network nodes. 20% acceptance rate for full-length papers, such as ours.
  92. A.-H. Liu and R. P. Dick, “Automatic run-time extraction of communication graphs from multithreaded applications,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Oct. 2006, pp. 46–51. Notes: Simulator module dynamically determines communication patterns of arbitrary multi-threaded Linux applications for use in embedded system synthesis. 25% acceptance rate for conference.
  93. L. Yang, H. Lekatsas, and R. P. Dick, “High-performance operating system controlled memory compression,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., July 2006, pp. 701–704. Notes: New compression algorithm allows usable embedded system usable memory to be doubled without hardware or application changes and with negligible performance and power overhead. 21% acceptance rate for conference.
  94. Y. Yang, Z. P. Gu, C. Zhu, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Adaptive chip-package thermal analysis for synthesis and design,” in Proc. Design, Automation, and Test in Europe, Mar. 2006, pp. 844–849. Notes: New temporally and spatially adaptive dynamic and steady-state integrated circuit thermal analysis algorithms that are much faster than conventional approaches (e.g., 170×–476× for dynamic analysis) while maintaining accuracy. 32% acceptance rate for conference.
  95. Z. P. Gu, Y. Yang, J. Wang, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “TAPHS: thermal-aware unified physical-level and high-level synthesis,” in Proc. Asia & South Pacific Design Automation Conf., Jan. 2006, pp. 879–885. Notes: One of eight best paper award nominees from 432 submitted papers. Efficient and high-quality unified thermal analysis, floorplanning, and high-level synthesis algorithm. 32% acceptance rate for conference.
  96. D. C. Zaretsky, G. Mittal, R. P. Dick, and P. Banerjee, “Dynamic template generation for resource sharing in control and data flow graphs,” in Proc. Int. Conf. on VLSI Design, Jan. 2006, pp. 465–468. Notes: General backtracking resource sharing algorithm for FPGAs and potentially ASICs. 41% acceptance rate for conference.
  97. D. C. Zaretsky, G. Mittal, R. P. Dick, and P. Banerjee, “Generation of control and data flow graphs from scheduled and pipelined assembly code,” in Wkshp. Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing, Oct. 2005, pp. 76–90. Notes: Method of translating optimized binaries targeting DSPs exposing microarchitectural features to FPGAs. Acceptance rate for conference not available.
  98. L. Yang, R. P. Dick, H. Lekatsas, and S. Chakradhar, “CRAMES: compressed RAM for embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Hardware/Software Codesign and System Synthesis, Sept. 2005, pp. 93–98. Notes: Operating system technique to double usable memory in embedded systems without changing applications, or hardware, and with little or no performance or power penalty. NEC uses this technology in their cellphones. 25% acceptance rate for conference.
  99. Z. P. Gu, J. Wang, R. P. Dick, and H. Zhou, “Incremental exploration of the combined physical and behavioral design space,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., June 2005, pp. 208–213. Notes: Rapid, high-quality floorplanning within behavioral synthesis, merging the behavioral and physical design levels and permitting interconnect power optimization for large designs. 21% acceptance rate for conference.
  100. J. Conner, Y. Xie, M. Kandemir, R. P. Dick, and G. Link, “FD-HGAC: a hybrid heuristic/genetic algorithm hardware/software co-synthesis framework with fault detection,” in Proc. Asia & South Pacific Design Automation Conf., Jan. 2005, pp. 709–712. Notes: Uses task replication on temporarily-idle processors to detect faults. 14% acceptance rate for conference.
  101. Y. Zhang, R. P. Dick, and K. Chakrabarty, “Energy-aware deterministic fault tolerance in distributed real-time embedded systems,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., June 2004, pp. 550–555. Notes: Synthesis of embedded systems using dynamic voltage scaling for power minimization and software checkpointing for reliability. 21% acceptance rate for conference.
  102. L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and N. K. Jha, “An economics-based power-aware protocol for computation distribution in mobile ad-hoc networks,” in Proc. Conf. Parallel and Distributed Computing and Systems, Nov. 2002. Notes: Won best paper award in distributed computing. There were 140 papers published and five best paper categories. Increases network lifespan and supports workload distribution using an auction-based protocol.
  103. R. P. Dick, G. Lakshminarayana, A. Raghunathan, and N. K. Jha, “Power analysis of embedded operating systems,” in Proc. Design Automation Conf., June 2000, pp. 312–315. Notes: Simulation-based time and energy profiling of applications and operating systems. 36% acceptance rate for conference.
  104. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “A survey of Princeton tools for automatic synthesis of low-power embedded systems,” in Proc. Power Sources Conf., Apr. 2000, pp. 494–497. Invited survey article and presentation on design-side power reduction techniques. The conference is primarily attended by battery and fuel cell researchers.
  105. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “COWLS: hardware-software co-synthesis of distributed wireless low-power embedded client-server systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. VLSI Design, Jan. 2000, pp. 114–120. Notes: Concurrently optimizes communication and computation synthesis of wireless embedded systems.
  106. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “MOCSYN: multiobjective core-based single-chip system synthesis,” in Proc. Design, Automation & Test in Europe Conf., Mar. 1999, pp. 263–270. Notes: Selected in 2007 as one of 30 most influential appearing in the Design, Automation, and Test in Europe Conference during the past ten years. The main idea of this work is to tightly integrate different levels of the multiprocessor system-on-chip design process, considering the impact of system-level changes on physical design.
  107. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “CORDS: hardware-software co-synthesis of reconfigurable real-time distributed embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 1998, pp. 62–68. Notes: First hardware-software co-synthesis algorithm to support dynamically reconfigurable FPGAs.
  108. R. P. Dick, D. L. Rhodes, and W. Wolf, “TGFF: task graphs for free,” in Proc. Int. Wkshp. Hardware/Software Co-Design, Mar. 1998, pp. 97–101. Notes: Widely-used tool for scheduling and allocation research.
  109. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “MOGAC: a multiobjective genetic algorithm for the co-synthesis of hardware-software embedded systems,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 1997, pp. 522–529. Notes: Fast heterogeneous distributed system synthesis algorithm that meets or beats the design quality of previously reported results.

Journal publications

  1. X. Qi, Q. Lu, W. Pan, Y. Zhao, R. Zhu, M. Dong, Y. Chang, Q. Lv, R. Dick, F. Yang, T. Lu, N. Gu, , and L. Shang, “CASES: A Cognition-Aware Smart Eyewear System for Understanding How People Read,” Proc. ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, no. 3, Sept. 2023. Notes: Using emotional state and eye tracking gathered via smart glasses to study and assist people with reading.
  2. R. P. Dick, R. Aitken, J. Mogill, J. P. Strachen, K. Bresniker, W. Lu, Y. Nakahira, Z. Li, M. J. Marinella, W. Severa, A. Talin, C. Vineyard, S. Kumar, C. Mailhiot, and L. Klebanoff, “Research Challenges for Energy-Efficient Computing in Automated Vehicles,” IEEE Computer, vol. 56, Mar. 2023. Notes: Observations on future computational and energy efficiency demands and solutions for automated driving by industry, laboratory, and academic researchers and practitioners.
  3. Y. Zhao, N. Li, W. Pan, Y. Wang, M. Dong, X. S. Ding, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, D. Li, F. Yang, T. L., N. Gu, and L. Shang, “Unveiling Causal Attention in Dogs' Eyes with Smart Eyewear,” Proc. of ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 1–33, Jan. 2023.
  4. Y. Zhao, Y. Chang, Y. Lu, Y. Wang, M. Dong, Q. Lv, R. P. Dick, F. Yang, T. Lu, N. Gu, and L. Shang, “Do Smart Glasses Dream of Sentimental Visions? Deep Emotionship Analysis for Eyewear Devices,” Proc. ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies, vol. 6, Mar. 2022.
  5. B. Simpson, M. Burns, R. P. Dick, and L. Saager, “Epidural Needle Guidance Using Viscoelastic Tissue Response,” IEEE J. of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, vol. 10, pp. 1–11, Mar. 2022.
  6. Z. Chen, T. Zhang, Z. Chen, Y. Xiang, Q. Xuan, and R. P. Dick, “HVAQ: A High-Resolution Vision-Based Air Quality Dataset,” IEEE Trans. on Instrumentation & Measurement, Sept. 2021.
  7. Y. Zhao, M. Dong, Y. Wang, D. Feng, Q. Lv, R. Dick, D. Li, T. Lu, N. Gu, and L. Shang, “A Reinforcement-Learning-Based Energy-Efficient Framework for Multi-Task Video Analytics Pipeline,” IEEE Trans. Multimedia, 2021.
  8. Y. Ma, J. Zhou, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, S. Wang, and X. S. Hu, “Improving Reliability of Soft Real-Time Embedded Systems on Integrated CPU and GPU Platforms,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 39, no. 10, pp. 2218–2229, Sept. 2019.
  9. R. P. Dick, L. Shang, M. Wolf, and S.-W. Yang, “Embedded Intelligence in the Internet-of-Things,” IEEE Design & Test, Dec. 2019.
  10. Y. Ma, J. Zhou, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, S. Wang, and X. S. Hu, “On-line resource management for improving reliability of real-time systems on `Big–Little' type MPSoCs,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, 2019, preprint. Scheduled for printing in 2019.
  11. E. S. Lubana and R. P. Dick, “Digital Foveation: an energy-aware machine vision framework,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, pp. 2371–2380, Nov. 2018. Notes: Multi-round and broadly applicable biologically inspired approach to machine vision achieves 5× improvement in energy efficiency with at most 0.65% reduction in accuracy, making sophisticated vision applications feasible on performance and energy-constrained embedded systems.
  12. Q. Liu, J. Williamson, W. Mohrman, K. Li, Q. Lv, R. Dick, and L. Shang, “Gazelle: energy-efficient wearable analysis for running,” IEEE Trans. Mobile Computing, vol. 16, no. 9, pp. 2531–2544, Sept. 2017. Notes: Power management and signal processing techniques to reduce wearable sensing system energy consumption by an order of magnitude.
  13. Y. Ma, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, and X. S. Hu, “Improving system-level lifetime reliability of multicore soft real-time systems,” IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 1895–1905, June 2017. Notes: On-line methods of optimizing homogeneous multicore system reliability, considering thermal effects.
  14. Y. Ma, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, S. Wang, and X. S. Hu, “Online resource management for improving reliability of real-time systems on `Big-Little' type MPSoCs,” IEEE Trans. on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 88–100, Jan. 2020.
  15. Y. Liu, D. R. Bild, R. P. Dick, Z. M. Mao, and D. S. Wallach, “The Mason test: A defense against Sybil attacks in wireless networks without trusted authorities,” IEEE Trans. Mobile Computing, vol. 15, no. 11, 2015. Notes: Describes a method of defending against Sybil attacks in ad hoc wireless networks without trusted authorities.
  16. D. R. Bild, Y. Liu, R. P. Dick, Z. M. Mao, and D. S. Wallach, “Aggregate characterization of user behavior in Twitter and analysis of the retweet graph,” ACM Trans. Internet Technologies, vol. 15, no. 1, Feb. 2015. Notes: Method of extracting social network graphs for distributed, infrastructureless Twitter-like microblogging applications. Applications include detection of spammers and potentially propagandists.
  17. R. Piedrahita, Y. Xiang, N. Masson, J. Ortega, A. Collier, Y. Jiang, K. Li, R. P. Dick, Q. Lv, M. Hannigan, and L. Shang, “The next generation of low-cost personal air quality sensors for quantitative exposure monitoring,” Atmospheric Measurement Techniques, no. 7, pp. 3325–3336, Oct. 2014.
  18. S. Yazji, P. Scheuermann, R. P. Dick, G. Trajcevski, and R. Jin, “Efficient location aware intrusion detection to protect mobile devices,” Springer Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, vol. 18, pp. 143–162, Jan. 2014.
  19. L. Yang, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, G. Memik, and X. Chen, “HAPPE: human and application driven frequency scaling for processor power efficiency,” IEEE Trans. Mobile Computing, Aug. 2013. Notes: Adaptive user- and application-aware power management policy reduces full system power consumption by 25% without degrading user satisfaction.
  20. K. Li, C. Zhu, Q. Lv, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Personalized multi-modality image management and search for mobile devices,” Springer Personal and Ubiquitous Computing, Apr. 2013. Notes: Distributed image management and search on smartphones.
  21. D. R. Bild, R. P. Dick, and G. E. Bok, “Static NBTI reduction using internal node control,” ACM Trans. Design Automation Electronic Systems, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 45:1–45:30, Oct. 2012. Notes: Combined use of input vector control and internal node control reduces NBTI-induced delay by 27% in sleep-mode functional units.
  22. T. Chantem, X. S. Hu, and R. P. Dick, “Temperature-aware scheduling and assignment for hard real-time applications on MPSoCs,” IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, vol. 19, no. 10, pp. 1884–1897, Oct. 2011. Notes: Optimal formulation and efficient heuristic for temperature-aware real-time multiprocessor system-on-chip scheduling problem.
  23. Z. Hassan, N. Allec, F. Yang, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and X. Zeng, “Full-spectrum spatial–temporal dynamic thermal analysis for nanometer-scale integrated circuits,” IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, vol. 19, no. 12, pp. 2276–2289, Oct. 2011. Notes: Multi temporal and spatial resolution dynamic nanoscale to chip-package level thermal analysis infrastructure.
  24. L. Yang, R. P. Dick, H. Lekatsas, and S. Chakradhar, “High-performance operating system controlled on-line memory compression,” ACM Trans. Embedded Computing Systems, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 30:1–30:28, Mar. 2010. Notes: New compression algorithm doubles usable embedded system memory without hardware or application changes and with negligible performance and power overhead. NEC uses this technology in their cellphones.
  25. L. Yang, H. Lekatsas, R. P. Dick, and S. Chakradhar, “On-line memory compression for embedded systems,” ACM Trans. Embedded Computing Systems, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 27:1–27:30, Feb. 2010. Notes: Operating system technique to double usable memory in embedded systems without changing applications, or hardware, and with little or no performance or power penalty. NEC uses this technology in their cellphones.
  26. X. Chen, L. Yang, R. P. Dick, L. Shang, and H. Lekatsas, “C-Pack: a high-performance microprocessor cache compression algorithm,” IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, vol. 18, no. 8, pp. 1196–1208, Aug. 2009. Notes: Efficient compression algorithm and hardware design appropriate for use in microprocessor cache compression.
  27. Z. Hassan, N. Allec, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, V. Venkatraman, and R. Yang, “Multi-scale thermal analysis for nanometer-scale integrated circuits,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 28, no. 6, pp. 860–873, June 2009. Notes: Describes multi-scale steady-state thermal analysis framework to handle nanoscale device level and chip-package level analysis.
  28. C. Zhu, Z. P. Gu, R. P. Dick, L. Shang, and R. Knobel, “Characterization of single-electron tunneling transistors for designing low-power embedded systems,” IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, vol. 17, no. 5, pp. 646–659, May 2009. Notes: Among the 25 most frequently downloaded articles in 2009 for this top VLSI journal. First work to evaluate the architectural implications of using single-electron tunneling transistors for numerous embedded and general-purpose processors.
  29. L. S. Bai, L. Yang, and R. P. Dick, “MEMMU: Memory expansion for MMU-less embedded systems,” ACM Trans. Embedded Computing Systems, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 23–33, Apr. 2009. Notes: Compiler-assisted on-line data compression technique permits substantial increases in usable memory on MMU-less embedded systems, such as sensor network nodes.
  30. L. Yang, R. P. Dick, H. Lekatsas, and S. Chakradhar, “RAM for free,” IEEE Spectrum, Aug. 2008. Notes: Accessible article explaining a RAM compression technique that doubles usable memory. NEC uses this technology in their cellphones.
  31. C. Zhu, Z. P. Gu, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and R. Joseph, “Three-dimensional chip-multiprocessor run-time thermal management,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 27, no. 8, pp. 1479–1492, Aug. 2008. Notes: New operating system dynamic thermal management technique permits 30% improvement in throughput compared to best existing (local distributed) technique.
  32. Z. Li, C. Zhu, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and Y. Sun, “Transaction-aware network-on-chip resource reservation,” IEEE Computer Architecture Letters, pp. 53–56, June 2008. Notes: Accelerating common-case events in high-level network-on-chip communication protocol improves data access latency by 28%.
  33. Z. P. Gu, C. Zhu, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Application-specific MPSoC reliability optimization,” IEEE Trans. VLSI Systems, vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 603–608, May 2008. Notes: Temperature-aware reliability optimization techniques for use in multiprocessor system-on-chip synthesis.
  34. Z. P. Gu, J. Wang, R. P. Dick, and H. Zhou, “Unified incremental physical-level and high-level synthesis,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, pp. 1576–1588, Sept. 2007. Notes: Rapid, high-quality floorplanning within behavioral synthesis, merging the behavioral and physical design levels and permitting interconnect power optimization for large designs.
  35. D. Brooks, R. P. Dick, R. Joseph, and L. Shang, “Power, thermal, and reliability modeling in nanometer-scale microprocessors,” IEEE Micro, pp. 49–62, May 2007. Notes: Tutorial on modeling power consumption, and its consequences.
  36. L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and N. K. Jha, “SLOPES: hardware-software co-synthesis of low-power real-time distributed embedded systems with dynamically reconfigurable FPGAs,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 26, no. 3, pp. 508–526, Mar. 2007. Notes: First hardware-software co-synthesis algorithm to support partially and dynamically reconfigurable FPGAs.
  37. Y. Yang, Z. P. Gu, C. Zhu, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “ISAC: integrated space and time adaptive chip-package thermal analysis,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, pp. 86–99, Jan. 2007. Notes: New temporally and spatially adaptive dynamic and steady-state integrated circuit thermal analysis algorithms that are faster than conventional approaches while maintaining accuracy.
  38. A. Mallik, B. Lin, P. Dinda, G. Memik, and R. P. Dick, “User driven frequency scaling,” IEEE Computer Architecture Ltrs., vol. 5, no. 2, pp. 16–19, Dec. 2006. Notes: Describes a new technique to reduce laptop power consumption by 22% by directly considering user satisfaction.
  39. L. Shang and R. P. Dick, “Thermal crisis: challenges and potential solutions,” IEEE Potentials, vol. 25, no. 5, pp. 31–35, Sept. 2006. Notes: Accessible introduction to thermal problems in computing written for undergraduate and high school students.
  40. L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and N. K. Jha, “DESP: a distributed economics-based subcontracting protocol for computation distribution in power-aware mobile ad hoc networks,” IEEE Trans. Mobile Computing, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 33–45, Mar. 2004. Notes: Increases network lifespan and supports workload distribution using an auction-based protocol.
  41. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “COWLS: hardware-software co-synthesis of distributed wireless low-power client-server systems,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 23, no. 1, pp. 2–16, Jan. 2004. Notes: Concurrently optimizes communication and computation synthesis of wireless embedded systems.
  42. R. P. Dick, G. Lakshminarayana, A. Raghunathan, and N. K. Jha, “Analysis of power dissipation in real-time operating systems,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 22, no. 5, pp. 615–627, May 2003. Notes: Among the 25 most frequently downloaded articles in 2004, 2005, and 2008 for this top CAD journal. Data not available for 2006 and 2007. Simulation-based time and energy profiling of applications and operating systems.
  43. R. P. Dick and N. K. Jha, “MOGAC: a multiobjective genetic algorithm for hardware-software co-synthesis of distributed embedded systems,” IEEE Trans. Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, vol. 17, no. 10, pp. 920–935, Oct. 1998. Notes: Fast heterogeneous distributed system synthesis algorithm that meets or beats the design quality of previously reported results.

Book sections and chapters

  1. Y. Ma, J. Zhou, T. Chantem, R. P. Dick, and X. S. Hu, “Resource Management for Improving Overall Reliability of Multi-Processor Systems-on-Chip,” in Dependable Embedded Systems, 1st ed., J. Henkel and N. Dutt, Eds. Springer, 2021, ch. 10. Notes: System-level techniques to improve multi-processor reliability.
  2. E. Macii, R. Mehra, M. Poncino, and R. P. Dick, “Microarchitectural and system-level power estimation and optimization,” in Electronic Design Automation for IC System Design, Verification, and Testing, 2nd ed., L. Lavagno, I. Markov, and G. Martin, Eds. SPI International, 2016, ch. 13. Notes: I contributed the portion on system-level power modeling and updated some other portions of the chapter.
  3. R. P. Dick, “Optimal two-level Boolean minimization,” in The Encyclopedia of Algorithms, M.-Y. Kao, Ed. Springer, 2014, pp. 1–6. Notes: Description of the fundamental two-level logic minimization algorithm developed by W. V. Quine and E. J. McCluskey. Suitable for use in undergraduate teaching.
  4. L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and N. K. Jha, “High-level synthesis algorithms for power and temperature minimization,” in High-level Synthesis. Springer, 2008, pp. 285–297. Notes: Survey article on power-aware and temperature-aware high-level synthesis algorithms.
  5. D. C. Zaretsky, G. Mittal, R. P. Dick, and P. Banerjee, “Generation of control and data flow graphs from scheduled and pipelined assembly code,” in Languages and Compilers for Parallel Computing, G. Goos, J. Hartmanis, and J. van Leeuwen, Eds. Springer, 2007, pp. 76–90. Notes: Method of translating optimized binaries targeting DSPs exposing microarchitectural features to FPGAs.
  6. R. P. Dick, L. Shang, and N. K. Jha, “Power-aware architectural synthesis,” in The VLSI Handbook, 2nd ed., W.-K. Chen, Ed. CRC Press, 2007, ch. 17. Notes: Survey of recent progress in power-aware and temperature-aware high-level and system-level synthesis.

Dissertation

R. P. Dick, “Multiobjective synthesis of low-power real-time distributed embedded systems,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering, Princeton University, July 2002."


Dissertations by student collaborators

  1. T. Zhang, “Advancing Environmental Applications through Machine Learning and Computer Vision: Modeling, Algorithms, and Real-World Implementations,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, July 2023.
  2. Y. Liu, “Supporting large scale communication systems on infrastructureless networks composed of commodity mobile devices: practicality, scalability, and security,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Jan. 2016.
  3. X. He, “Energy saving and scavenging in stand-alone and large scale distributed systems,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Sept. 2015.
  4. D. Bild, “Non-hierarchical networks for censorship-resistant personal communication,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Apr. 2014.
  5. Y. Xiang, “Mobile sensor network design and optimization for air quality monitoring,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Jan. 2014.
  6. L. Zhang, “Power, performance modeling and optimization for mobile system and applications,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Jan. 2013.
  7. S. Tarzia, “Acoustic sensing of location and user presence on mobile computers,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, Aug. 2011.
  8. T. Chantem, “Real-time system design under physical and resource constraints,” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Notre Dame, Apr. 2011.
  9. J. Cosgrove, “PICSEL: measuring user-perceived performance to control dynamic frequency scaling,” Master's thesis, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Northwestern University, Apr. 2008.

Patent disclosures

  1. R. P. Dick and E. S. Lubana, “Digital foveation for low-power machine vision,” Sept. 2020.
  2. W. Mohrman, K. Li, G. Pernetz, J. Williamson, L. Shang, and R. P. Dick, “Methods and apparatus for power expenditure and technique determination during bipedal motion,” U.S. Patent US10,744,371B2, issued.
  3. L. Yang, R. P. Dick, X. Chen, G. Memik, P. A. Dinda, A. Shye, B. Ozisikyilmaz, A. Mallik, and A. N. Choudhary, “System and method for controlling power consumption in a computer system based on user satisfaction,” US Patent US8,706,652B2, June, 2010.
  4. A. Shye, Y. Pan, B. Scholbrock, J. S. Miller, G. Memik, P. Dinda, and R. P. Dick, “System and method for leveraging human physiological traits to control microprocessor frequency,” issued, June, 2010.
  5. A. Mallik, B. Lin, G. Memik, P. Dinda, and R. P. Dick, “Systems and methods for process and user driven dynamic voltage and frequency scaling,” Patent, July, 2007, issued.
  6. R. Dick, Q. Lv, Y. Zhao, Y. Chang, and L. Shang, “Understanding how people read with smart eyewear,” Patent 63/469,706, May, 2023, pending.
  7. R. Dick, Q. Lv, L. Shang, Y. Zhao, Y. Chang, N. Gu, T. Lu, F. Yang, M. Dong, and Y. Lu, “Emotionship analysis for eyewear devices,” Patent 18/101,856, Jan., 2023, pending.
  8. R. Dick, Q. Lv, Y. Zhao, Y. Chang, and L. Shang, “Unveiling causal attention in dogs' eyes with smart eyewear,” Patent PCT/CN2022/135,926, Dec., 2022, pending.
  9. R. Dick, Q. Lv, Y. Zhao, Y. Chang, and L. Shang, “MemX: An attention-aware smart eyewear system for personalized moment auto-capture,” Patent 17/952,810, Sept., 2022, pending.
  10. R. P. Dick, E. S. Lubana, Y. Lu, and B. Simpson, “Intelligent scene caching for video capture data reduction,” pending, June, 2021.
  11. R. Dick, M. Burns, L. Saager, and B. Simpson, “A hand-held, directional, multi-frequency probe for spinal needle placement, pending,” Oct. 2019.

Technical reports

  1. T. Chantem, Y. Xiang, X. Hu, and R. Dick, “Enhancing multicore reliability through wear compensation in online assignment and scheduling,” Utah State University, Tech. Rep., Dec. 2013.
  2. Y. Liu, D. R. Bild, and R. P. Dick, “Extending channel comparison based Sybil detection to MIMO systems,” Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Tech. Rep. CSE-TR-584-13, Nov. 2013.
  3. R. P. Dick, “Reliability, thermal, and power modeling and optimization,” in Proc. Int. Conf. Computer-Aided Design, Nov. 2010, pp. 181–184.
  4. T. Chantem, X. S. Hu, and R. P. Dick, “Temperature-aware scheduling and assignment for hard real-time applications on MPSoCs,” University of Notre Dame, Tech. Rep., Dec. 2009.
  5. Z. P. Gu, Y. Yang, J. Wang, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “Unified temperature-aware incremental high-level and physical-level synthesis,” Northwestern University and University of Michigan, Tech. Rep., Nov. 2009.
  6. T. Chantem, X. S. Hu, and R. P. Dick, “Online work maximization under a peak temperature constraint,” University of Notre Dame, Tech. Rep., June 2009.
  7. S. P. Tarzia, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, and G. Memik, “Prospects for sonar-based measurement of user attentiveness,” Northwestern University, Tech. Rep., Apr. 2009.
  8. S. P. Tarzia, H. Zhou, and R. P. Dick, “Fast voltage assignment by convex-cost flow,” Northwestern University, Tech. Rep., Apr. 2009.
  9. C. Zhu, Z. P. Gu, L. Shang, R. P. Dick, and R. Joseph, “Run-time thermal management of three-dimensional chip multiprocessors,” in Proc. Wkshp. Quality-Aware Design, June 2008, invited paper.
  10. L. Yang, X. Chen, J. Wang, R. P. Dick, and L. Shang, “Chip multiprocessor cooperative cache compression and migration,” Northwestern University, Tech. Rep., Apr. 2008.
  11. N. Liveris, H. Zhou, R. P. Dick, Y. Chen, and P. Banerjee, “Abstraction techniques for model-checking parameterized systems,” Northwestern University, Tech. Rep., Feb. 2007.
  12. A. Mallik, B. Lin, P. Dinda, G. Memik, and R. P. Dick, “Process and user driven dynamic voltage and frequency scaling,” Northwestern University, Tech. Rep., Aug. 2006. Notes: Led to later conference and journal papers.
  13. S. Jevtic, M. Kotowsky, R. P. Dick, P. A. Dinda, and C. Dowding, “Lucid Dreaming: reliable analog event detection for energy-constrained applications,” Northwestern University, Tech. Rep., Aug. 2006. Notes: Led to later conference paper.
  14. R. P. Dick, “Scattering in isotropic and anisotropic media,” University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Tech. Rep., Sept. 1991. Notes: Outcome of a summer job taken during High School.

Invited talks

  1. Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland. 27 Apr. 2009. Power-, Temperature-, and Reliability-Aware Design and Management of Integrated Circuits.
  2. Workshop on Compiler Assisted SoC Assembly, affiliated with Embedded Systems Week, Salzburg, Austria, 30 Sep. 2007. Compiler-Assisted Memory Expansion for MMU-Less Embedded Systems.
  3. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. 8 Sep. 2007. Cross-Domain Design: The Implications of Optimizing Reliability.
  4. University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China, 3 Sep. 2007. Embedded System Design and Synthesis.
  5. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, 5 Sep. 2007. Embedded System Design and Synthesis.
  6. Peking University, Beijing, China, 5 Sep. 2007. Embedded System Design and Synthesis.
  7. The National Science Foundation in Arlington, Virginia. 2 Mar. 2007. What are the important questions for a discipline of software-intensive system design? Presented my workshop group's findings to other researchers and program managers.
  8. The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas. 1 Dec. 2006. Temperature-Aware Synthesis of Integrated Circuits.
  9. Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea. 26 Oct. 2006. Two talks: Efficient On-Line Operating System Controlled Data Compression for Embedded Systems and Temperature-Aware Modeling, Analysis, and Physical Design for Reliable Integrated Circuit Design and Synthesis.
  10. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. 10–12 Aug. 2006. Three talks: Open Problems in Sensor Networks, Thermal Analysis and Optimization of Integrated Circuits and Systems, and Architectural Impacts of Single-Electron Tunneling Transistors.
  11. Hewlett–Packard Labs, Palo Alto, California. 28 Jul. 2006. Compressed RAM for Embedded Systems.
  12. University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. 4 May 2006. Two talks: Efficient On-Line Operating System Controlled Data Compression for Embedded Systems and Temperature-Aware Modeling, Analysis, and Physical Design for Reliable Integrated Circuit Design and Synthesis.
  13. University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, Colorado. 9 Jun. 2006. Adaptive Chip-Package Thermal Analysis for Synthesis and Design.
  14. University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany. 10 Mar. 2006. Two talks: Efficient On-Line Operating System Controlled Data Compression for Embedded Systems and Thermal-Aware Modeling, Analysis, and Physical Design for Reliable Integrated Circuit Design and Synthesis.
  15. Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Austin, Texas. 8 Feb. 2006. Thermal Analysis and Temperature-Aware Design of Integrated Circuits.
  16. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China. 20 Jan. 2003. System-On-Chip Synthesis and Low-Power Operating Systems for Embedded Systems.
  17. Tsinghua University, Beijing, China. 20 Dec. 2002. System-On-Chip Synthesis and Low-Power Operating Systems for Embedded Systems.
  18. Peking University, Beijing, China. 22 Nov. 2002. System-On-Chip Synthesis and Low-Power Operating Systems for Embedded Systems.
  19. Fudan University, Shanghai, China. 25 Oct. 2001. Embedded System-On-Chip Synthesis.

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