Communications of the ACM
Advances in Computer Mobility, Connectivity, and Networks
Researchers at Williams College are developing programs and platforms to ensure systems will continue to operate in the event of power outages and other issues associated with mobility and connectivity
Credit: Jeannie Albrecht, Computer Science Department, Williams College
Williams College researchers are developing programs and platforms that will ensure systems work despite power outages and other issues associated with mobility and connectivity.
"If you are writing software and you want to run it on machines not physically located in one place, you have to go through many steps, including plugging in your code, installing your software, configuring the machines," notes Williams College professor Jeannie Albrecht. She wants to develop ways to deal with anticipated connectivity failures, both when they are predictable and when they are not, and to examine methods for coping with delays they may produce.
"We are looking at techniques for coping with the temporary unavailability of resources," Albrecht says.
The researchers also are studying how to incorporate advance knowledge of connectivity failures into the program. "We've developed a couple of algorithms that make it easier to predict when we should abort," Albrecht says. She notes the research has the potential to greatly improve how smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices function.
The U.S. National Science Foundation is underwriting Albrecht's work with a five-year, $400,000 grant.
From National Science Foundation
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