The inventors of reduced instruction set computing (RISC) chips have won the 2017 ACM AM Turing Award for pioneering a systematic, quantitative approach to the design and evaluation of computer architectures with enduring impact on the microprocessor industry.
The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) has given the award to John Hennessy former president of Stanford University, and David Patterson, retired professor of the University of California, Berkeley, who created a systematic and quantitative approach to designing faster, lower power, and reduced instruction set computer (RISC) microprocessors.

Their approach led to lasting and repeatable principles that generations of architects have used for many projects in academia and industry.

Today, 99% of the more than 16 billion microprocessors produced annually are RISC processors, and are found in nearly all smartphones, tablets, and the billions of embedded devices that comprise the Internet of Things (IoT).

Hennessy and Patterson codified their insights in an influential book, “Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach”, now in its sixth edition, reaching generations of engineers and scientists who have adopted and further developed their ideas.

Their work underpins our ability to model and analyze the architectures of new processors, greatly accelerating advances in microprocessor design.

The ACM Turing Award, often referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Computing,” carries a $1-million prize, with financial support provided by Google. It is named for Alan M Turing, the British mathematician who articulated the mathematical foundation and limits of computing.

Hennessy and Patterson will formally receive the 2017 ACM AM Turing Award at the ACM’s annual awards banquet on 23 June.