Computer Architecture Research

Computer Architecture Research
(1990 - 1996)
Machine Architecture and Distributed / Parallel System Performance,
Operating Systems, Inter-Process Communications, Real Time Systems,
File Systems and I/O Subsystems

Introduction

I have had and still maintain a long standing interest in computer system design, encompassing machine architecture and organisation, operating systems with a focus on real time performance, IPC, File Systems and I/O Subsystems. This is a continuing thread of activity which started during the late 1980s, when I maintained VAX architecture machines and peripherals. Since then I have developed embedded code, device drivers and hardware in industry, worked for several years as a performance analyst on large Unix systems, and did my MSc research project on the WalNUT password capability system. Unusually, I have development and research experience across all layers of a computer system, from analogue hardware up to IPC and applications.

Due to a particular lack of interest in architecture and related research topics by Australian funding bodies and prospective postgraduates, I have exploited this expertise primarily in ClSIT BSE/BCS/MDC curriculum and courseware development since 2000, and in support of research in ad hoc networks and systems.

For details of many of the industry projects I have worked on, refer main toolbar for Industry Publications and Industry Projects.

Research Publications

Summary of all publications : Click Here

Kopp, Carlo, An I/O and Stream Inter-Process Communications Library for a Password Capability System (PDF format), MSc Thesis, Dept of Computer Science, Monash University, 1996.

Castro M D, Pose R D and Kopp C, Password-Capabilities and the WalNUT Kernel, The Computer Journal, vol 51, issue 5, Oxford University Press, Oxford England UK, pp. 595-606.

The Walnut Kernel is a capability based operating system kernel that was developed in the Department of Computer Science at Monash University during the 1990s. This kernel is heir to many of the ideas that were implemented in the Password-Capability System. Focusing on the programmer's view, this paper describes the Password-Capability model and the features of the Walnut Kernel and the design decisions taken in creating it. An ANSI compliant standard IO library is used as an example of the expressive power of the system.

WalNUT Password Capability System Research

The WalNUT Password Capability System is a secure operating system design, which employs password capability techniques to control access to objects within the system. It is a direct evolution of the Monash multiprocessing kernel, developed for the Monash multiprocessor system in 1987, and a major research accomplishment by a long running research group founded and led by the late Professor Chris Wallace.

Previous WalNUT related projects included the addition of a stdio libraries, a compiler port, a network protocol stack design, a shell design and other miscellaneous topics.

WalNUT Password Capability System Research Project Webpage