I attended the above conferences to investigate, present a paper(Dr. Kodama of ETL's Computer Science Division presented the paper), serve as a achairman, and arrange conference operations.
The International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA) is the top international conference on computer architecture. It is also the most difficult conference to presented. I should say that it was fortunate to be admitted with a paper prepared jointly with ETL.
Thirty-seven papers were presented at the conference. My impression of these papers are summarized below:(1) There was a tendency to carry out short-term research program, one or two years, instead of the long-term research program done by RWC; (2) The majority of research has become directly connected to commercialization;(3) Papers contained many detailed graphs. Following a trend over the past few years, the ISCA seems to have become a more conservative conference.
IFIP Parallel Architecture and Computatuion Techniques(PACT) is a new, advanced international conference specializing in parallel architecture and parallel compilers. I have been program committee member for three years, have served as a chairman, and done other related tasks. PACT trends for the year are summarized below:(1) There were many fundamental presentations from Europe; (2) There were good numerical approaches in the papers from the US. Space here does not allow for the presentation of the many specific details.
The ISCA was held at a popular tourist area called Santa Margarita , located in northern Italy, about 30 minutes west by train from Genoa. As this is a town in the East Riviera, there are topless girls at the beach - we envy the tourists. Probably because those in attendance were researchers of the first rank, no one at the conference was heard to say, "Even at such an international conference, why are two confined from morning till night for presentations, panel discussions and banquets instead of going to beach!!"
PACT, on the other hand, was held at the Sheraton Hotel at Limassol on Cyprus. This is quite a wonderful place - the horizon of the Mediterranean appears as a circle, with nothing other than the hotel obstructing the view. It was not too difficult for me to finish breakfast quickly, go for a swim before the conference starts, attend the conference, swim again in the evening, and then engage in hot debate over dinner ( not on how to swim, but on how to make computers). So following the maxim "Work while you work, play while you play," I left strong both mentally and physically.
I was surprised by one incident at my hotel in Cyprus:the cashier refused - why?! - to exchange my Japanese yen into the Cyprus pound. With people all over the world rushing to the yen, such behavior is rather strange.