Advances in data storage technology have been crucial to the evolution of the modern information age, enabling and accelerating the invention of new information-related applications in consumer entertainment, personal and business computing, enterprise data management, and scientific research. Recently, high capacity solid-state drives (SSDs) based upon NAND flash memory technology have begun attracting significant attention and finding broader use in many of these applications. SSDs have a number of advantages compared to conventional disk and tape drives, including better shock resistance, reduced power consumption, no moving parts, and faster data access. Although they remain less competitive in some storage applications with respect to cost per bit, overwrite constraints, and product lifetime limitations, it is becoming increasingly clear that continuing advances in the technology of SSDs and other non-volatile memories (NVMs) are setting the stage for a revolution in how computer systems and applications access and manipulate persistent data. Improved flash memories ? along with emerging technologies such as phase-change memories (PCM), spin-torque transfer memories (STTM), and the memristor ? are driving designers to rethink how they integrate these and other storage devices into future computing systems, how operating systems manage data, and how applications create and process information electronically. Realizing the full potential of these technologies is an exciting and important challenge with enormous societal consequences.
The proposed workshop is a sequel to the Non-volatile Memories Workshops that were held on the campus of the University of California, San Diego in April 2010 and March 2011, respectively. Archival websites from these workshops may be found at http://nvmw.ucsd.edu/. The primary objective has been to further the development of a ?vertical? vision for research on the role of NVM technologies in data intensive computing systems. It is essential that researchers at each level of the system ?stack? be aware of the needs, challenges, and opportunities associated with the other levels. The workshop will give researchers in relevant fields the opportunity to gain a broader understanding of what is needed to move NVM-based storage technology forward, to learn from each other, and to establish relationships and collaborations that will provide the basis for further scientific and engineering advances. This will be accomplished through a wide-ranging program containing a half-day tutorial sesssion, two keynote addresses, and contributed technical presentations covering important topics related to: NVM device technologies, data recording and recovery techniques, system architectures and software design, and future NVM applications in personalized health, green computing, and enterprise-scale information management. Open registration for the entire workshop is intended to encourage broader participation by interested individuals from academia, industry, and government. The technical program is structured to provide a unique educational opportunity, particularly for students and researchers who are new to the area.
Intellectual Merit: This workshop will address fundamental problems in the science, engineering, and application of high-performance data storage systems based upon non-volatile memories. This includes the study of nano-scale physical phenomena that permit storage of information; the development of coding algorithms for reliable, persistent, and secure data storage; the analysis of system architectures for data intensive computing; and the conception of new paradigms for non-volatile storage of data in a variety of applications.
Broader Impact: The exchange of knowledge and the generation of novel ideas that result from the workshop will have significant impact on the computing and data storage industries, both vitally important to the national economy. The educational component of the workshop will benefit students and postdoctoral researchers, as well as more senior participants. An archival website will provide a lasting record of the workshop proceedings and a resource for the scientific community and general public.
On March 4-6, 2012, researchers from UC San Diego hosted the 3rd Annual Non-volatile Memories Workshop (NVMW 2012) on the UCSD campus in La Jolla, California. Like its predecessors (NVMW 2010 and NVMW 2011), the third workshop covered a range of topics related to non-volatile memories, including basic memory device technologies; data encoding for reliability, persistence, and security; computer system architectures; and the application of non-volatile memories in video game systems, smartphones, file system, data-intensive computing, cloud-based and enterprise storage. Three organizational principles were adhered to: (1) active encouragement and support of workshop participation by students, post-doctoral researchers, and junior faculty members; (2) establishment of a diverse Technical Program Committee to evaluate submitted presentation abstracts, ensuring a technical program that was broad in scope and exceptional in quality; and (3) an invited tutorial session on a technical topic, presented in a manner that was accessible to all workshop participants, and renowned invited keynote addresses on both days of the technical presentation sessions. Specifically, the NVMW 2012 program began with a tutorial entitled "System Design Issues for Solid State Storage,'" presented by Dr. Steven R. Hetzler, IBM Fellow, and Manager of Storage Architecture Research. The technical program, assembled by a 24-member Program Committee, featured two sessions each on diverse topics in Devices, Error-Control Coding, Architectures, and Applications, with 33 presentations overall. An additional 15 submissions were represented in the poster session. The keynote addresses that opened each day of technical sessions were another highlight of the meeting. Richard L. Coulson, Senior Fellow and Director of the Storage Technologies Group at Intel Corporation spoke on "Co-optimizing Systems, OS, Applications, SSDs and NVM" and Christophe Chevallier, Vice President of Product Development at NVM/Storage Division of Rambus Corporation discussed "Developments and Challenges for Next Generation Terabit Non Volatile Memories." The workshop attracted 187 registered attendees, with representatives from 30 universities, over 40 industrial R&D labs, and 5 national and international research organizations. More than 25% of the participants were graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, and 51 of them received travel grants, thanks to the support provided by this NSF Grant (EECS-1230080). A website has been created to serve as an archival record of the proceedings of NVMW 2012 and a resource for the general public. The website includes a downloadable workshop program, as well as links to presentation slides of most of the invited speakers. The NVMW 2012 website, which also includes links to the archival websites created for NVMW 2010 and NVMW 2011, can be found at: http://nvmw.ucsd.edu/2012/
