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NSF and Science of Design

Avogadro Scale EngineeringCenter for Bits & AtomsNovember 18-19, 2003

Kamal AbdaliComputing & Communication Foundations Division

Computer & Information Sciences DirectorateNational Science Foundation

Social, Behavioral,

and Economic Sciences

National Science FoundationNational Science Foundation

Inspector GeneralNational Science Board

Director

Deputy Director

Staff Offices

Computer & Computer & Info. ScienceInfo. Science

& Engineering & Engineering

EngineeringEngineering Geosciences

MathematicalMathematical& Physical& Physical SciencesSciences

Education & Human Resources

Budget, Finance & Award Management

Information Resource

Management

Biological Sciences

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Reorganized CISE Structure

Divisions Administrative units based on intellectual partitions

Clusters Comprehensive activity within a Division in a coherent area of

research and education Teams of Program Officers and staff working closely with the

community

Themes Focused areas of research and education that cut across

clusters and divisions Address scientific and national priorities Have program announcements and funds

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The New CISE

Computing & CommunicationFoundation

Computer & NetworkSystems

Information & Intelligent Systems

SharedCyber Infrastructure

Computer & Information Science & Engineering

and Cross Cutting Themese.g. Cyber Trust or Science of Design

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Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF)

Formal and Mathematical Foundations Core computing & communication theory Algorithmic & computational science Application-specific theory

Foundations of Computing Processes & Artifacts Software design & productivity High-end software, architecture & design Computer graphics & visualization

Emerging models for technology and computation Biologically motivated computing models Quantum computing & communication Computing & communication systems based on nano

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Formal & Mathematical Foundations

Determine inherent limits of computation and communication, and obtain optimal solutions within those limits.

Investigate information representation methods, algorithms, and computational techniques for advancing information technology as well as all scientific and engineering disciplines.

Representative Topics of Interest

theory of computation and algorithms, algorithmic & computational approaches to mathematics & science, information coding and communication

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Foundations ofComputing Processes & Artifacts

Advance the science, formalisms, and methodologies for building computing and communication systems.

Representative Topics of Interestsoftware engineering, programming language design and implementation, computer architecture and design, design test and automation techniques, graphics and visualization

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Emerging Models and Technologies

for Computation

Explore computational models, techniques, and systems based on emerging and future technologies.

Representative Topics of Interest

Computing systems based on nanotechnology, quantum computing and communication, computational devices and architectures inspired by processing of information in living matter, computational approaches to problems in biology

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Support of Design at NSF

Nearly all engineering programs Design and Manufacturing Innovation

Division in ENG Computing Processes & Artifacts cluster in

CCF (for software and hardware design, test & design automation tools, …)

Science of Design Theme in CISE (being formulated--a workshop held during Nov 2-4)

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Motivation

Challenges in computing & communication Emerging technologies

Nanoscale systems Alternative computing paradigms (e.g., DNA-based, quantum,

chemical) Mobile computing & communication Distributed sensors

Computational issues Increasing complexity of scientific and engineering problems Massively distributed data Trust and security

Creating need and opportunity to design, build and maintain systems which are larger and more complex than existing ones by several orders of magnitude

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Design as Mathematical Problem Solving

Scientific knowledge base for design domain Ability to express design desiderata as a

mathematical problem Available solution techniques, algorithmic

and heuristic Optimization techniques needed since

usually many solutions feasible

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Engineering practice to analyze and synthesize complex systems impose the idea of architecture (functional

organization as intercommunicating blocks) use hierarchical decomposition and multiple

layers of abstraction different mathematical models, languages and

formalisms, to represent component interactions at different layers

E.g. Shannon's use of Boolean algebra to analyze

relay circuits Bell's (and others') idea of high-level

hardware design languages Conway-Mead VLSI design methodology.

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Benefits of That Approach

Enables design of the most complex human-made systems: computer hardware, networks, databases, software

E.g., VLSI designers can create without being bogged down by complexities of low-level component interactions, yet produce designs that exploit the electronics, physics, and material science involved in components

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De-layered design

Opposite of traditional practice More efficient design since cross-layer

relationships can be exploited Sometimes the two practices can be mixed,

combining humans’ layered and local design work with automated cross-layer and global optimization

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Random List of Issues Utilitarian and esthetic aspects. Domain-independent design principles? Coping with complexity of systems approaching Avogadro

scale Aggregation and statistical characterization Exploiting sparsity, regularity and structure

Self-diagnosis, self-repair, self regeneration, evolving Learning from nature Special problems for software and software-intensive

systems Scientific principles, engineering practices, standard components,

design automation, verification and test tools Requirement and specification, derivation of design from these Robust, reliable, fault-tolerant design Maintenance, built-in verification. Quality assurance Education and work force developments