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Innovative processor architectures aim to play a critical role in future sustainment of performance improvements under severe limitations imposed by the end of Moore’s Law. The Reconfigurable Optical Computer (ROC) is one such innovative, Post-Moore’s Law processor. ROC is designed to solve partial differential equations in one shot as opposed to existing solutions, which are based on costly iterative computations. This is achieved by leveraging physical properties of a mesh of optical components that behave analogously to lumped electrical components. However, virtualization is required to combat shortfalls of the accelerator hardware. Namely, 1) the infeasibility of building large photonic arrays to accommodate arbitrarily large problems, and 2) underutilization brought about by mismatches in problem and accelerator mesh sizes due to future advances in manufacturing technology. In this work, we introduce an architecture and methodology for light-weight virtualization of ROC which exploits advantages borne from optical computing technology. Specifically, we apply temporal and spatial virtualization to ROC and then extend the accelerator scheduling tradespace with the introduction of spectral virtualization. Additionally, we investigate multiple resource scheduling strategies for a system-on-chip (SoC)-based PDE acceleration architecture and show that virtual configuration management offers a speedup of approximately 2 ×. Finally, we show that overhead from virtualization is minimal, and our experimental results show two orders of magnitude increased speed as compared to microprocessor execution while keeping errors due to virtualization under 10%. 

Sea-level rise (SLR) is and will continue to be a pressing issue in the rural, North Coast region of California, es- pecially since nearby Wigi (or Humboldt Bay) is experiencing one of the fastest rates of relative SLR on the U.S. West Coast. In this paper, we argue that SLR presents a transformative opportunity to rekindle environmental relationships and reshape the future of the California North Coast and beyond. As the preeminent higher education institution of the region, Cal Poly Humboldt has the responsibility to be a leader in education, research, and planning for climate resilience. We describe efforts of the Cal Poly Humboldt Sea Level Rise Institute to establish a university-Tribal-commu- nity partnership that braids together different approaches and ways of knowing to develop research and planning that supports a resilient California North Coast. Since Wigi is projected to experience the effects of SLR sooner than the rest of the state, the North Coast region is poised to act as an incubator for new ideas and solutions, including Indigenous knowledge systems, and to play a role in influencing equitable, resilient, and transformative SLR adaptation processes in other parts of the state and the world. This will require developing programming and expertise in specific disciplinary areas, but, more importantly, will require the development of opportunities and spaces for various disciplines, ways of knowing, and sectors (e.g. Tribal nations, academia, government, NGOs, private companies, and community groups) to converge and bring the best of what they have to address climate-induced challenges and opportunities.