Alan L. Davis
Encyclopedia
Alan L. Davis is an American computer scientist
and researcher
, a professor of computer science at the University of Utah
, and associate director of the C. S. department there.
Davis was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah
. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering
at MIT in 1969, and a Ph.D. in computer science under Bob Barton at Utah in 1972.
With Bob Barton, in cooperation between Burroughs Corporation and Utah, Davis built the first operational dataflow or "data driven" computing machine, the DDM-1, between 1972 and 1976.
In the early 1980s, Davis left his tenured professor position at Utah to work for Schlumberger
Palo Alto Research, where he headed the computer architecture group and developed the "FAIM-1" architecture. In 1988 he joined Hewlett-Packard
labs in Palo Alto, where with Ken Stevens and Bill Coates he developed the "post office" switching architecture, a widely cited project.
He returned to the University of Utah's School of Computing where he served as director of graduate studies in 2001
and as associate director since 2003,
and has continued to do research with companies such as Intel
and Hewlett-Packard
.
Davis is mainly known for his work in computer architecture
and asynchronous circuit
s, including influential work on arbiters
. He has numerous technical publications and has supervised numerous Ph.D. dissertations.
Computer scientist
A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems....
and researcher
Researcher
A researcher is somebody who performs research, the search for knowledge or in general any systematic investigation to establish facts. Researchers can work in academic, industrial, government, or private institutions.-Examples of research institutions:...
, a professor of computer science at the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
, and associate director of the C. S. department there.
Davis was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
. He received a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering
Electrical engineering
Electrical engineering is a field of engineering that generally deals with the study and application of electricity, electronics and electromagnetism. The field first became an identifiable occupation in the late nineteenth century after commercialization of the electric telegraph and electrical...
at MIT in 1969, and a Ph.D. in computer science under Bob Barton at Utah in 1972.
With Bob Barton, in cooperation between Burroughs Corporation and Utah, Davis built the first operational dataflow or "data driven" computing machine, the DDM-1, between 1972 and 1976.
In the early 1980s, Davis left his tenured professor position at Utah to work for Schlumberger
Schlumberger
Schlumberger Limited is the world's largest oilfield services company. Schlumberger employs over 110,000 people of more than 140 nationalities working in approximately 80 countries...
Palo Alto Research, where he headed the computer architecture group and developed the "FAIM-1" architecture. In 1988 he joined Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
labs in Palo Alto, where with Ken Stevens and Bill Coates he developed the "post office" switching architecture, a widely cited project.
He returned to the University of Utah's School of Computing where he served as director of graduate studies in 2001
and as associate director since 2003,
and has continued to do research with companies such as Intel
and Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
.
Davis is mainly known for his work in computer architecture
Computer architecture
In computer science and engineering, computer architecture is the practical art of selecting and interconnecting hardware components to create computers that meet functional, performance and cost goals and the formal modelling of those systems....
and asynchronous circuit
Asynchronous circuit
An asynchronous circuit is a circuit in which the parts are largely autonomous. They are not governed by a clock circuit or global clock signal, but instead need only wait for the signals that indicate completion of instructions and operations. These signals are specified by simple data transfer...
s, including influential work on arbiters
Arbiter (electronics)
-Asynchronous arbiters:An important form of arbiter is used in asynchronous circuits, to select the order of access to a shared resource among asynchronous requests. Its function is to prevent two operations from occurring at once when they should not...
. He has numerous technical publications and has supervised numerous Ph.D. dissertations.