Robust and Energy-Efficient Embedded Computing

Overview

Abstract

Embedded systems are currently an indispensable part of our lives because of their pervasive deployment in a wide range of critical applications (e.g., automotive, encryption, and healthcare, etc.) as well as non-critical applications (e.g., image/video processing, etc.). These embedded system form the fundamental components of today’s Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) and Internet-of-Things (IoT), which are subjected to stringent constraints in terms of reliability, security, and power-/energy especially in case of battery-driven scenarios. Due to the shrinking transistor dimensions, embedded computing hardware are increasingly susceptible to a wide range of reliability threats e.g., transient faults (such as soft errors due to high-energy particle strikes) and permanent faults due to design-time process variations and run-time aging effects. These threats may lead to functional and timing errors that may jeopardize the correct application’s executions. Furthermore, security has also become a crucial aspect in today’s systems because of several security threats, e.g., confidentiality threat to steal the IP or private information via side channel attacks. These reliability and security threats may lead to a catastrophic impact on the robustness of embedded systems. Another key design constraint of a battery-driven embedded platform is power-/energy-wise efficiency, e.g., a device under a low power/battery mode during the critical application execution may miss a critical event that may lead to a catastrophic outcome. In order to address the above-mentioned challenges, it is crucial to investigate different techniques at the hardware and software layers. In this talk, I will first highlight the key robustness and energy efficiency challenges in embedded computing systems, and will present techniques to address these challenges.

Brief Biography

Semeen Rehman is currently with the Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien), Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. In October 2020, she received her Habilitation and earned the title of “Privatdozentin” in the area of Embedded Systems from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Technische Universität Wien (TU Wien). Before that, she was a postdoctoral researcher with the Technische Universität Dresden (TU Dresden) and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany, since 2015. In July 2015, she received her Ph.D. from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Germany. She has co-authored one book, multiple book chapters, and multiple publications in top premier journals and conferences. Her main research interests include dependable systems, cross-layer design for error resiliency with a focus on run-time adaptations, emerging computing paradigms such as approximate computing, hardware and machine learning security, energy-efficient computing, embedded systems, MPSoCs, Internet of Things, and Cyber-Physical Systems. She has received the CODES+ISSS 2011 and 2015 Best Paper Awards, DATE 2017 Best Paper Award Nomination, several HiPEAC Paper Awards, Richard Newton Young Student Fellow Award at DAC 2015, and Research Student Award at the KIT, in 2012. She served as the Track Chair of the ISVLSI 2021 and 2020 conferences, Best IP award and PhD forum Committee at DATE, and Technical Programme Committee (TPC) of multiple premier conferences on Design Automation and Embedded Systems (such as DAC, DATE, VLSID, CASES, NOCs, ASPDAC). She has (co-)chaired multiple sessions at the DATE 2019, 2018, and 2017 conferences.