CAREER: Comprehensive approaches to designing systems with higher performance, scalability, and security

Modern computers can perform many tasks at the same time, but the software that manages these tasks, called the operating system, is still often based on designs created decades ago. As computer systems become more connected and powerful, these older designs can make them harder to secure, maintain, and scale. This project develops a new way to build operating systems so that different parts of the system can work together more safely and efficiently while supporting modern applications and hardware. The work draws on ideas from computer security, operating system design, and algorithms. Educational activities connected to the project help students learn how computers work and how secure software systems are designed and tested. The project develops a new type of operating system that combines multiple operating system design approaches into a unified system to improve performance, security, scalability, and reliability. The design separates critical system services from the operating system kernel while preserving compatibility with existing software and hardware. The research examines fundamental tradeoffs among these goals in modern multicore computing systems. Research activities are organized into three interconnected thrusts. The first thrust develops a safe and scalable multiprocessor microkernel using memory-safe programming methods and scalable concurrency techniques. The second thrust integrates critical services and device drivers into isolated user-space servers while preserving compatibility, efficiency, and modularity. The third thrust investigates system hardening, fault isolation, and support for real-world applications to evaluate practical usability. The resulting platform will serve as an open-source research infrastructure for reproducible systems research and education. The project expands participation in computer systems research through open-source software development, educational activities, and community engagement. Public release of the operating system allows students, researchers, and software developers to study, modify, and extend the system. The work supports the creation of graduate-level educational activities that combine operating systems, computer security, and concurrent programming through hands-on learning. Outreach programs for middle school and high school students introduce core computing ideas using low-cost hardware and interactive programming exercises. Workshops and collaborative activities encourage interaction among researchers, students, educators, and industry practitioners. The project may influence future operating system development in both research and industry while helping prepare a future workforce in secure, scalable, and efficient computing systems. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria. NSF Award ID: 2543448 | Program: 01003031DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT,01002930DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT,01002627DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT | Principal Investigator: Ruslan Nikolaev | Institution: Pennsylvania State Univ University Park, UNIVERSITY PARK, PA | Award Amount: $385,625 View on NSF Award Search: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/show-award/?AWD_ID=2543448 View on Research.gov: https://www.research.gov/awardapi-service/v1/awards/2543448.html