Computing Systems

This division concerns the fundamental hardware and software systems that underpin and drive modern computing, communication and other digital infrastructures and applications. The general goal is to develop techniques and algorithms to enhance performance, efficiency, and reliability of these systems.

Work in this division draws from and contributes to multiple domains:

• Computer Architecture studies the design and structure of computer hardware and functional components. Research includes developing hardware and software support for high performance, and low power and security for technologies from multi-core to quantum computing;
• Operating Systems studies systems software that manages computer hardware and interfaces with applications. Research includes developing techniques for scheduling, memory management, storage and file systems, virtualization, and container technologies;
• Distributed Systems studies large-scale multi-computer systems, such as high-performance computing, cloud computing, edge computing, big data computing, and Internet of Things. Research includes developing techniques to enhance their scalability, reliability, performance, and efficiency;
• Computer Networking studies the design and implementation of communication between interconnected computers. Research includes developing techniques for reliable, scalable, and secure data transmission and communication over wired and wireless media;
• Mobile Computing studies computing and communication with mobile systems, such as handheld and wearable devices. Research includes developing techniques for their seamless integration and interaction with the environment and end-users; and
• Storage Systems studies data storage systems, including technologies for large capacity and high-performance storage devices, to meet the demand of big data, efficiently retrieve data, and preserve data for extremely long durations.

Labs and selected projects 

• Distributed Computing Systems Group Jon Weissman, Abhishek Chandra
• Distributed Systems Research Anand Tripathi
• MESS: Minnesota Embedded Sensor System Tian He
• Mobile Systems Research Group Feng Qian
• Networking Research Group Zhi-Li Zhang

Related centers and programs 

• Center for Research in Intelligent Storage (CRIS)
• Digital Technology Center