IEEE SOFTWARE invites you to submit a paper to the special issue:

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"Software for the Multiprocessor Desktop:
Applications, Environments, Platforms"
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Guest Editors:
* Victor Pankratius (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
* Wolfram Schulte (Microsoft Research),
* Kurt Keutzer (Univ. California Berkeley)

Final submissions due: 1 July 2010
Publication date: January/February 2011


Multicore processors, like Nehalem or Opteron, and manycore processors, like Larrabee or GeForce, are becoming a de facto standard for every new desktop PC. Exploiting the full hardware potential of these processors will require parallel programming. Thus, many developers will need to parallelize desktop applications, ranging from browsers and business applications to media processors and domain-specific applications. This is likely to result in the largest rewrite of software in the history of the desktop. To be successful, systematic engineering principles must be applied to parallelize these applications and environments

This special issue seeks contributions introducing readers to multicore and manycore software engineering for desktop applications. It aims to present practical, relevant approaches such as programming models, languages, and tools as well as exemplary experiences in parallelizing applications for these new desktop processors. The special issue will also sketch out the current challenges and research frontiers so that practitioners will know what to expect over the next several years.

We solicit original, previously unpublished articles on topics over the whole spectrum of software engineering in the context of desktop multiprocessors, including multicore, manycore, and mixtures of each. Such efforts include applications, environments, and platforms for the multiprocessor desktop. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following

* How to make desktop multiprocessor programming easier for the average programmer
* Desktop multiprocessor programming models, language extensions, and runtimes
* Multicore and manycore design patterns, architectures, frameworks, and libraries
* Software reengineering/refactoring for desktop multiprocessors
* Desktop multiprocessor software optimizations, performance tuning, and auto-tuning
* Testing, debugging, and verification of multicore and manycore programs
* Development environments and tools for desktop multiprocessor software
* Surveys of software development tools for desktop multiprocessors
* Energy issues in multicore and manycore programming
* Case studies of application scenarios for desktop multiprocessor software in consumer applications
* Surveys of desktop applications that benefit from desktop multiprocessors
* Industrial experience reports and case studies on multicore and manycore programming

Manuscripts must not exceed 4,700 words including figures and tables, which count for 200 words each. Submissions in excess of these limits may be rejected without refereeing. The articles we deem within the theme's scope will be peer-reviewed and are subject to editing for magazine style, clarity, organization, and space. IEEE reserves the right to edit the title of all submissions.

Articles should have a practical orientation, and be written in a style accessible to practitioners. Overly complex, purely research-oriented, or theoretical treatments are not appropriate. Articles should be novel. IEEE Software does not re-publish material published previously in other venues, including other periodicals and formal conference/workshop proceedings, whether previous publication was in print or in electronic form.

For further information about the topic, contact one of the guest editors; be sure to include the name of the special issue you are submitting for.

* Victor Pankratius (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
http://www.victorpankratius.org/

* Wolfram Schulte (Microsoft Research)
http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/people/schulte/

* Kurt Keutzer (Univ. California Berkeley)
http://www.eecs.berkeley.edu/~keutzer/

For general author guidelines: www.computer.org/software/author.htm

For submission details: software@computer.org

The call for papers, further information, and updates are available at:
http://www.multicore-systems.org/specialissue