HPCA Workflow
Use this as the project-management skill for an HPCA submission. Replace every date
with the current official timetable and plan backward from the late-July gate.
HPCA is a conference, not a journal: it has no standing editor-in-chief and no
article-processing charge. It is run by the IEEE-CS Technical Committee on Computer
Architecture (TCCA); the rotating leadership is the per-edition General and Program
Chairs (HPCA 2027 program chairs were reported as Aamer Jaleel and Mattan Erez —
待核实), and the cost model is registration fees. Chairs rotate yearly, so re-check
the current organization page rather than carrying a name forward.
The shape of the HPCA year
HPCA sits in the winter seat: a late-July deadline feeds an autumn review
and a February/March conference. It is the last major architecture deadline of
the summer, so a project that misses it waits for MICRO's spring gate or ISCA's
November gate — plan the fallback before you need it.
Milestones
- Venue fit: confirm a measured microarchitectural cost meets a buildable
mechanism whose behavior is the contribution.
- Evidence lock: freeze the mechanism, the simulator/silicon configuration,
workloads, sampled regions, baselines, and the artifact mirror.
- Registration step: submit real title, abstract, authors, topics, and complete
conflicts about a week before the paper.
- Paper step: upload the anonymous IEEE-template PDF and all HotCRP fields.
- Review wait: triage reviews for correctness, methodology, novelty, and
reproducibility concerns as they land.
- Rebuttal/revision window: respond and revise in one combined window (recent
cycles run a single window, not two rounds).
- Notification → acceptance: archive reviews, the response, and the submitted
versions; then IEEE camera-ready, artifact evaluation on the AE HotCRP, and the
winter talk.
Backward plan from the paper deadline
| Weeks out (heuristic) |
Hardware-evaluated milestone |
| 8+ |
Mechanism implemented; fidelity contract (tool, config, workloads) fixed |
| 6 |
Baseline sweeps complete; per-workload results, not just means |
| 4 |
Real-silicon or validated-simulator numbers logged with machine state |
| 3 |
Full draft in the IEEE two-column template |
| 2 |
Internal mock review by an architecture-minded reader |
| 1 |
Reference author-list check, anonymity sweep, artifact mirror assembled |
| 0 |
Registration then paper on HotCRP |
These offsets are planning heuristics — anchor every one to the current official
timetable, never to a previous cycle.
Failure modes by stage
- Infrastructure still churning at week 4 forces last-minute configuration changes
no one has validated — the classic HPCA methodology reject in the making.
- Leaving template conversion to the final week surfaces overflow late; two-column
architecture figures are tighter than a working draft's.
- Skipping the mock review forfeits the only chance to hear "your baseline is
under-tuned" from a friend rather than a reviewer.
- Building the artifact mirror after the deadline under pressure is how anonymity
leaks and un-pinned simulators ship.
Coordination notes
- Assign one named owner for the fidelity contract and another for the anonymity
sweep; shared ownership is how both slip.
- Archive the exact submitted PDF, the artifact mirror, and the configuration files,
since rebuttal replies must quote them precisely.
Output format
[Current stage] idea / evaluation / writing / registration / paper / window / accepted
[Next official deadline] <date and source, or unknown>
[Critical path] <three tasks that determine readiness>
[Risk register] <page/anonymity/instrument/reproducibility/artifact/presentation>
[Fallback venue] <MICRO / ISCA / ASPLOS branch if rejected>
[Owner map] <task -> person or role>
1---2name: hpca-workflow3description: Use when planning an HPCA project timeline from venue fit through the two-step July registration and paper gate, the autumn review wait, the single rebuttal/revision window, notification, IEEE camera-ready, artifact evaluation, and the February/March talk, with backward-planning offsets for a hardware-evaluated paper.4---56# HPCA Workflow78Use this as the project-management skill for an HPCA submission. Replace every date9with the current official timetable and plan backward from the late-July gate.1011HPCA is a conference, not a journal: it has no standing editor-in-chief and no12article-processing charge. It is run by the IEEE-CS Technical Committee on Computer13Architecture (TCCA); the rotating leadership is the per-edition General and Program14Chairs (HPCA 2027 program chairs were reported as Aamer Jaleel and Mattan Erez —15待核实), and the cost model is registration fees. Chairs rotate yearly, so re-check16the current organization page rather than carrying a name forward.1718## The shape of the HPCA year1920HPCA sits in the **winter seat**: a **late-July deadline** feeds an **autumn review**21and a **February/March conference**. It is the last major architecture deadline of22the summer, so a project that misses it waits for MICRO's spring gate or ISCA's23November gate — plan the fallback before you need it.2425## Milestones2627- **Venue fit:** confirm a measured microarchitectural cost meets a buildable28 mechanism whose behavior is the contribution.29- **Evidence lock:** freeze the mechanism, the simulator/silicon configuration,30 workloads, sampled regions, baselines, and the artifact mirror.31- **Registration step:** submit real title, abstract, authors, topics, and complete32 conflicts about a week before the paper.33- **Paper step:** upload the anonymous IEEE-template PDF and all HotCRP fields.34- **Review wait:** triage reviews for correctness, methodology, novelty, and35 reproducibility concerns as they land.36- **Rebuttal/revision window:** respond and revise in one combined window (recent37 cycles run a single window, not two rounds).38- **Notification → acceptance:** archive reviews, the response, and the submitted39 versions; then IEEE camera-ready, artifact evaluation on the AE HotCRP, and the40 winter talk.4142## Backward plan from the paper deadline4344| Weeks out (heuristic) | Hardware-evaluated milestone |45|---|---|46| 8+ | Mechanism implemented; fidelity contract (tool, config, workloads) fixed |47| 6 | Baseline sweeps complete; per-workload results, not just means |48| 4 | Real-silicon or validated-simulator numbers logged with machine state |49| 3 | Full draft in the IEEE two-column template |50| 2 | Internal mock review by an architecture-minded reader |51| 1 | Reference author-list check, anonymity sweep, artifact mirror assembled |52| 0 | Registration then paper on HotCRP |5354These offsets are planning heuristics — anchor every one to the current official55timetable, never to a previous cycle.5657## Failure modes by stage5859- Infrastructure still churning at week 4 forces last-minute configuration changes60 no one has validated — the classic HPCA methodology reject in the making.61- Leaving template conversion to the final week surfaces overflow late; two-column62 architecture figures are tighter than a working draft's.63- Skipping the mock review forfeits the only chance to hear "your baseline is64 under-tuned" from a friend rather than a reviewer.65- Building the artifact mirror after the deadline under pressure is how anonymity66 leaks and un-pinned simulators ship.6768## Coordination notes6970- Assign one named owner for the fidelity contract and another for the anonymity71 sweep; shared ownership is how both slip.72- Archive the exact submitted PDF, the artifact mirror, and the configuration files,73 since rebuttal replies must quote them precisely.7475## Output format7677```text78[Current stage] idea / evaluation / writing / registration / paper / window / accepted79[Next official deadline] <date and source, or unknown>80[Critical path] <three tasks that determine readiness>81[Risk register] <page/anonymity/instrument/reproducibility/artifact/presentation>82[Fallback venue] <MICRO / ISCA / ASPLOS branch if rejected>83[Owner map] <task -> person or role>84```
brycewang-stanford