Information & Computing Research

Abstractions allow us to extract relevant information from a more extensive data set. Using high-level abstractions, researchers can target diverse hardware types and efficiently create desired performances.

Developed theories and methodologies do not address the need to rethink entire design frames, also known as stacked abstractions. Revolutionary co-design likely will require the invention of radical new abstractions. Therefore, this is a principal research area in SLAC’s Microelectronics directorate.

By creating a fixed approach to interlayer abstractions in a protocol stack, we can define an engineering paradigm that allows efficient and incremental refinement of systems and devices. 

Information Processing Research Questions

Research in information processing, communication models, and abstractions should answer the following questions: 

1. Is there a robust, portable, and efficiently-enforceable abstraction for a  secure information unit? 
2. Can we formulate new protocol stacks enabling network applications to predict the energy costs of distributed operations?  
3. When we discover new materials with a functional but unconventional nature, can we systematically analyze a range of signal formats, input-output behaviors, and associated composition (circuit) rules for supporting devices?