Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS)

Georgia Institute of Technology
College of Computing and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering

A National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center since 2001

Research in Experimental Computer Systems promotes the creation and transfer of technical knowledge through the design, implementation, and measurement of potentially large-scale prototype hardware/software systems.

Center Mission and Rationale

In Fall 2001, the Georgia Tech Center for Experimental Research in Computer Systems (CERCS) opened its doors. CERCS brings together researchers from Georgia Tech's College of Computing and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering who share a common focus on the design and evaluation of computer and software systems through experimental methods. CERCS research focuses on complex distributed systems, including their hardware, communications and system-level software, and applications. By emphasizing the experimental method, we promote the creation of knowledge through the design, implementation, and measurement of potentially large-scale prototype systems. Constituting one of the largest experimental computer systems programs in the U.S., CERCS has a mission to:

• lead the innovation of new information and computing technologies,
• construct the interactive information grids of the future, and
• create the intellectual capital that can advance these technologies and fuel future advances.

Research Program

The Center's focuses on the design and evaluation of computer and software systems through experimental methods. Three strategic technology domains are:

• Scientific/Technical Computing, deals with data and compute intensive applications by developing domain-specific grid technologies. Science and technology research in CERCS is focused both at the application and at the middleware layer. Our middleware work in direct support of high performance scientific computing includes topics in the automated and scalable management of scientific data and applications, in needs- and resource-aware middleware, and online scientific collaboration. CERCS also has significant efforts in general high-performance simulation, addressing domains that include discrete event simulation, telecommunications, physics and materials simulations, and others.
• Enterprise Computing, deals with information intensive applications with dynamic behaviors and resource requirements. CERCS' Enterprise Computing Initiative, which shares commonality with HP's Adaptive Enterprise and IBM's Autonomic Computing Initiatives, focuses on the following research objectives: rapid, automated, re-deployment of shared platform assets; adaptive enterprise services and dynamic resource allocation; adaptive fault tolerance, survivable data storage, secure services; and transactional and continuous information flows. Projects in this domain investigate technologies that enable robust, reliable enterprise scale computing.
• Embedded Computing focuses on extending distributed systems across the wireless infrastructure and enabling software services for remote, pervasive access to information with quality properties. The domain of embedded computing also has its own set of unique demands and research areas, including real-time and QoS needs. In this area, CERCS research focuses on: timely, secure, remote information access; automated access to information grid services; ubiquitous services and service discovery; service composition, morphing and specialization; kernel-level functionality for online quality management; and new quality dimensions: safety, energy usage, and end-to-end guarantees.

Special Center Activities

In addition to traditional support of M.S. and Ph.D. programs in Computer Science and Computer Engineering, CERCS hosts annual Industry Advisory Board Workshops, publishes a series of technical reports, and through its Internship Program offers a unique opportunity for students to experience research issues and industry challenges while developing the requisite skills to be highly qualified researchers.participates in internship programs.

Facilities and Laboratories:

CERCS maintains a large collection of high-end computing, networking and interactive display/capture equipment for general research use in our shared laboratory spaces. All of these laboratories share access to the cluster computers of the Interactive High Performance Computing Lab (IHPCL). IHPCL offers over 300 Linux computational nodes.

• Systems and Software Research Lab: The Systems Research Lab is the main laboratory of the Systems group. This shared facility provides a center for the group's collaborative research activities. Research topics include programming languages and compilers, software tools, operating systems, software analysis and testing, and distributed systems/middleware.
• Critical Systems Lab: The CSL is focused on critical computing systems for real-time, embedded and highly dependable applications. Research topics include computer architecture, network interfaces and cluster systems, operating system kernels, fault-tolerant computing and embedded systems.
• Systems Studio: Adjacent to the main Systems Research Lab is the Systems Studio, which conducts work in interactive systems. The focus is on high-end collaboration and pervasive and ubiquitous systems via devices like video walls, immersive workbenches and 3D-interactive systems.
• Systems Showcase: This lab supports collaborative research between Georgia Tech and Oregon's Graduate Institute (OGI) to build the next generation systems software for information flow-driven applications.
• Soft Architecture Lab Systems: This lab supports the research effort on the impact of ubiquitous dynamic compilation technology on hardware and systems software design in embedded and high-performance contexts.
• Security Lab: A new laboratory, the Security Lab will explore issues in computer security at both the network and systems levels.
• Low-Power Laboratory: The low-power research laboratory was established was established by CERCS (CoC and ECE) faculty to address issues in architecture, operating systems, compilers, and middleware focused on reducing and limiting energy usage on single and distributed platforms.
• Virtualization and Multi-core Systems Laboratory: The Virtualization Lab is undertaking a concerted effort to to explore virtualization and security technologies for future multicore and distributed platforms. Applications addressed range from high end codes on single servers to distributed or information flow systems spanning many trusted or untrusted machines.
• Network Processing Laboratory: The IXA Laboratory was established by a generous donation by Intel, and provides a range of network processors from the Intel IXP family of NPs for education and research on network-level computing.

Center Headquarters

CERCS
801 Atlantic Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0280
Tel (404) 894 9760 * Fax (404) 385-2295
Homepage: www.cercs.gatech.edu
Center Director: Prof. Karsten Schwan
Tel: (404) 894 2589 * schwan@cc.gatech.edu