Dear DATE contributors and participant,
In line with the tradition, one of the distinguishing characteristics of DATE2011 will be the quality of the technical program, which will feature presentations covering a broad spectrum of topics relevant to the design, automation and test of electronic circuits and (embedded) systems, including both the hardware and the software components.
The final program will consist of a few hundreds of papers; selecting them among the 900+ submissions that we are expecting will not be an easy task. To accomplish it in the best possible manner, and thus ensure an outstanding quality to the technical program, a Technical Program Committee (TPC) has been set up, organized using a hierarchical model.
Three “Track Chairs” have been appointed by the General Chair and myself to take care of the paper selection process for the “Application Topics” (Dr. Pol Marchal from IMEC), for the “Test Topics” (Dr. Erik Jan Marinissen from IMEC) and for the “Embedded Software Topics” (Prof. Petru Eles from Linkopping University), respectively, while I will take care personally of the “Design Topics”. Within these four “Tracks”, we have defined a total of 30 “Topics” (15 in Track D, 6 in Track A, 5 in Track T and 4 in Track E), and for each Topic a subcommittee of expert, led by a Chair and a Co-Chair has been appointed; they will manage, under the supervision of the Track Chairs and of the TPC Chair the paper selection process, which will take place in September-October 2011 and which will have its final act during the TPC Meeting that will be held in Torino on October 21, 2011.
Compared to the previous years, the number of topics included in the program has slightly decreased; this in the attempt of making author’s life easier, as they will have to deal with fewer (yet sharper) definitions of the scope of the topics, and will thus find it simpler to decide to what topics their contributions should be submitted.
In addition to this, also the composition of the TPC has been somehow revised, with the purpose of privileging the quality of the paper reviews over the quantity. I strongly believe that for an author it is more important to read meaningful and detailed comments of three-four reviewers than six-seven superficial assessment reports.
A final remark regarding the DATE2011 Technical Program is that, for the first time, besides the regular papers and interactive presentations we are used to since quite some time, it will feature short, 2-page papers, which will give a chance (primarily to industry) of pointing to the community real-life design and technology challenges that should address in a short-to-medium term.
The months to come will be very work-intensive for the entire TPC; I am sure that all together we will be able to deliver, as output of our effort, a DATE2011 Technical Program which will be in line with DATE’s tradition and that will satisfy the expectations of all the conference attendee’s. I am thus looking forward to working with the Track Chairs, the Topics Chairs and Co-Chairs, as well as all the members of the TPC in the near future.
Enrico Macii
Politecnico di Torino
Technical Program Chair, DATE2011
Welcome to DATE2011 which will take place in the beautiful city of Grenoble, France, from 14 to 18 March, 2011. Grenoble is a key semiconductor site in Europe, and a major industrial and scientific centre for micro and nano electronics, making it a perfect place for hosting DATE2011.