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2301 Partners I
Campus Box 7256
NC State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7256
Locate on Campus MapCampus Box 7256
NC State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7256
Dr. Alexander G Dean
Associate Professor
| Biography
Dr. Dean's research uses computer architecture, compiler technology, and real-time analysis and scheduling to simplify the design and implementation of embedded systems. Unlike most other embedded system research, this work targets applications without the budget for custom processors or ICs.
By using a compiler to interleave multiple program threads into one at the assembly instruction level, generic uniprocessors can provide significant concurrency. This simplifies hardware to software migration and enables embedded system designers to use standard (i.e. cheap) microprocessors to absorb the function of dedicated (i.e. expensive) peripheral components.
In addition to his academic education, Dr. Dean worked for several years at United Technologies Research Center, an industrial R&D lab in Connecticut. He analyzed, simulated and designed communication networks and system architectures for jet engines, elevators, cars and building climate control systems. He also designed, programmed and built prototypes for a few automotive applications. For most of his time as an undergraduate he worked as an electronic technician.
Dr. Dean is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award.
By using a compiler to interleave multiple program threads into one at the assembly instruction level, generic uniprocessors can provide significant concurrency. This simplifies hardware to software migration and enables embedded system designers to use standard (i.e. cheap) microprocessors to absorb the function of dedicated (i.e. expensive) peripheral components.
In addition to his academic education, Dr. Dean worked for several years at United Technologies Research Center, an industrial R&D lab in Connecticut. He analyzed, simulated and designed communication networks and system architectures for jet engines, elevators, cars and building climate control systems. He also designed, programmed and built prototypes for a few automotive applications. For most of his time as an undergraduate he worked as an electronic technician.
Dr. Dean is the recipient of an NSF CAREER award.
| Education
- 2000 - Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
- 1993 - M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
- 1991 - B.S in Electrical Engineering, University of Wisconsin at Madison, Madison, WI
| Primary Research Interests
- Computer Architecture and Systems (Including Embedded Computer Systems*, Microprocessor Architecture, Software and Optimizing Compilers*)
*Denotes areas in which student research is supported by Dr. Dean
| Selected Publications
- Gregory Parsons, Shaolin Peng, Alexander G. Dean. An Ultrasonic Communication System for Biotelemetry in Extremely Shallow Waters, Third ACM International Workshop on UnderWater Networks (WUWNet), in conjunction with ACM MobiCom 2008, San Francisco, CA, United States, September 15, 2008
- Zane D. Purvis and Alexander G. Dean. TOSSTI: Saving Time and Energy in TinyOS with Software Thread Integration, Proceedings of the 14th IEEE Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS 2008), St. Louis, MO, United States, April 2008
- Rony Ghattas, Gregory Parsons and Alexander G. Dean. Optimal Unified Data Allocation and Task Scheduling for Real-Time Multi-Tasking Systems, Proceedings of the 13th IEEE Real-Time and Embedded Technology and Applications Symposium (RTAS 2007), Bellevue, WA, United States, April 3 - April 6, 2007
- Rony Ghattas and Alexander G. Dean. Energy Management for Commodity Short-Bit-Width Microcontrollers, International Symposium on Compilers, Architecture and Synthesis for Embedded Systems, (CASES 2005), San Francisco, CA.
- Won So and Alexander Dean. "Reaching Fast Code Faster: Using Modeling for Efficient Software Thread Integration on a VLIW DSP," To appear in Proceedings of the 2006 International Conference on Compilers, Architectures and Synthesis for Embedded Systems (CASES 2006). Seoul, Korea
| Awards and Honors
- 2007 - Outstanding Teacher Award (Advanced Institute of Information Technology, Seoul, Korea)
- 2001 - NSF Career Award
