Institute for Computing Systems Architecture
School of Informatics
1.12 Informatics Forum
10 Crichton Street
Edinburgh
EH8 9AB
0131 650 3092
tjones1
@
inf.ed.ac.uk
PhD: The University of Edinburgh, 2006.
Royal Academy of Engineering / EPSRC Research Fellow (2008 - 2013)
Hello!
I'm a post-doctoral researcher here at the
University of
Edinburgh in the School of
Informatics. From 1 September 2008 I hold a Research Fellowship
from the Royal Academy of Engineering
and EPSRC. I work in the
Compiler and Architecture
Design Group and in collaboration with other researchers throughout
Europe. I was previously coordinator of the compiler workpackage in the
SARC project, funded by the
European Union under the 6th Framework Programme. I am currently also technical
leader of the adaptive compilation cluster in the
HiPEAC2 network of excellence.
Research
My research is looking at ways of using the compiler to adapt the hardware.
My PhD thesis considered energy savings in superscalar processors and
using the compiler to give hints to the
processor about the resources needed for the next few instructions. The
compiler, of course, has the advantage that it knows a bit about the future.
I considered the issue queue and register file for optimisation. For an overview of some research, take a look at this poster.
My current research areas include:
Compilation for multi-core processors: energy saving, performance and parallelisation
Using machine learning to explore microarchitecture and compiler design spaces considering the tradeoffs between performance and energy
Compiler-directed optimisations for energy reduction in the cache hierarchy, especially the instruction cache
Continued research into energy savings and complexity reduction within a processor pipeline
Compiler-directed schemes for reducing a processor's vulnerability to soft errors
I am interested in collaborations with other
researchers on any of the above. If you would
like to work with me then please send me an email.
In my spare time I play the trombone in orchestras and bands around Edinburgh, along with my quintet.
PhD Students
I'm currently recruiting PhD students for the following projects. If you are intested, please send me an email.
Energy and Thermal-Aware Cache Optimisation
In any modern architecture, the cache hierarchy occupies a significant fraction of the total chip area and thus consumes a large amount of energy. It is also the first point in any multi-core system where threads will interact with each other. The differing requirements of these threads can be lead to sub-optimal cache performance and energy consumption. This project will focus on the use of the compiler and runtime solutions to optimise the cache hierarchy for power reduction and thermal management.
Program Committee Member for MEDEA Workshop 2008 held in conjunction with PACT-17.
Program Committee Member for MEDEA Workshop 2007 held in conjunction with PACT-16.
Publications
Christophe Dubach, Timothy M. Jones, Edwin V. Bonilla, Grigori G. Fursin and Michael F.P. O'Boyle,
Portable Compiler Optimization Across Embedded Programs and Microarchitectures using Machine Learning,
42nd International Symposium on Microarchitecture (MICRO-42), December 2009.
Timothy M. Jones, Michael F.P. O'Boyle, Jaume Abella, Antonio González and Oğuz Ergin,
Energy-Efficient Register Caching with Compiler Assistance,
ACM Transactions on Architecture and Code Optimization (TACO), Volume 6, issue 4, October 2009.
Timothy M. Jones, Michael F.P. O'Boyle, Jaume Abella and Antonio González,
Compiler Directed Issue Queue Energy Reduction,
Transactions on High-Performance Embedded Architectures and Compilers (HiPEAC), Volume 4, issue 1, 2009.
Timothy M. Jones, Michael F.P. O'Boyle and Oğuz Ergin,
Evaluating the Effects of Compiler Optimisations on AVF,
12th Annual Workshop on the Interaction between Compilers and Computer Architecture (INTERACT) in conjunction with HPCA-14, February 2008.
Timothy M. Jones, Michael F.P. O'Boyle, Jaume Abella,
Antonio González and Oğuz Ergin,
Designing Efficient Processors Using
Compiler-Directed Optimisations,
11th Annual Workshop on the Interaction between Compilers and Computer
Architecture (INTERACT) in conjunction with HPCA-13, February 2007.
Timothy M. Jones, Michael F.P. O'Boyle, Jaume Abella,
Antonio González and Oğuz Ergin,
Compiler Directed Early Register Release,
14th International Conference on Parallel Architectures and Compilation
Techniques (PACT), September 2005.
Timothy M. Jones, Michael F.P. O'Boyle, Jaume Abella
and Antonio González,
Software Directed Issue Queue Power Reduction,
11th International Symposium on High-Performance Computer Architecture
(HPCA-11), February 2005.
