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Research Laboratories

John A. Swanson Embedded Computing Laboratory

The John A. Swanson Embedded Computing Laboratory provides a variety of the latest equipment and development software that allows students to design and test a wide range of embedded systems. The laboratory contains a set of nine high-performance workstations and a complete set of software that allows students to analyze and debug their system designs. Also included is a set of Altera Excalibur embedded system prototyping boards and development software. Each of these includes the NIOS downloadable soft core processor, a general purpose RISC processor core that is configurable to meet embedded system design needs.

John A. Swanson Computer Interfacing Laboratory

The John A. Swanson Interfacing Laboratory is used in an undergraduate course that focuses on the interaction and interconnection of computers. The facility contains 13 sets of interconnected workstations, oscilloscopes, and other related equipment used for demonstration and experimentation with modern computer networking. The facilities enable the students to design the hardware and software to implement the various types of intercomputer communications.

John A. Jurenko Computer Architecture Laboratory

This John A. Jurenko Computer Architecture Laboratory provides the hardware and software technology necessary for students to design and build digital circuits. The laboratory is used in two undergraduate laboratory courses where students are provided with an understanding of the three-way relationship between the mathematical abstraction of logic as expressed in Boolean Algebra, schematics and simulations using CAD tools, and the physical realization of these circuits in hardware. This facility contains 24 networked high-performance workstations, complete with logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, and related equipment used to design, breadboard, and test digital circuits. In addition, the laboratory contains complete support for both Altera and Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Array system development. Finally, a full complement of software, including the Mentor Graphics Design Tools and the Microsoft Visual Studio, is available that allows students to simulate their designs and develop new hardware and software systems. See what's going on in the lab right now using our Webcam!

CAD/CASE Classroom Laboratory

This new state-of-the-art laboratory is used to support the teaching and research program in computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering. Specifically, the laboratory combines a lecture facility together with a combination of high-performance Windows and Unix workstations. This facility is used by the students and faculty in the courses on Software Engineering, VLSI design, and System on a Chip Design, Digital System Verification, and Hardware Design Methodologies. In addition, this laboratory contains the hardware and software necessary to provide for the analysis and simulation of new computer designs. Examples will include new proposed Internet security solutions, experimental wireless ad hoc networks and configurations, and schemes for the management of networked systems. The laboratory provides for the development of CAD design tools and the integration of these tools to support industrial strength design flows. Finally, this facility supports the many System-on-a-Chip and Mixed Technology Microsystems research projects currently in process in the school by providing the platform for the higher-performance CAD software tools.

This classroom contains a combination of 24 Unix and 24 Windows workstations that accommodate 48 students in a classroom environment. It is networked to provide distributed learning together with students from other campuses of Pitt as well as other schools. Under sponsorship of the Pittsburgh Digital Greenhouse, it is presently being used for a shared course in VSLI design offered jointly by Penn State, CMU, and Pitt. In addition, this facility is available to students and faculty on a 24/7 basis through the use of a key card access system.

Cluster Computing Laboratory

The Cluster Computing Laboratory is dedicated to the development of new architectures that utilize commodity personal computers as the processing/storage notes. More efficient computer communication and coordination is facilitated through a high-speed, intelligent network. Equipment includes a cluster of 16 Pentium III computers, a cluster of eight Pentium computers, a surface-mount soldering station for custom hardware development, and a number of development workstations. Mentor Graphics has donated over $2 million worth of hardware development software for this laboratory and for the teaching laboratories in the Computer Engineering Program.

Internet Software Development Laboratory

The goal of the Internet Software Development Laboratory is to provide tools and resources to the software engineer that enable rapid development of Internet/Intranet applications. While Java is ideally suited for use in Web browsers running on a networked desktop computer, its potential is far greater and will continue to revolutionize the Internet. To expand and enhance Internet software development, this laboratory seeks to apply and enhance the Java platform for a number of areas, including enterprise software, electronic commerce, embedded network-aware sensors and actuators, mobile information appliances, and set-top multimedia computers. Sun Microsystems has donated over 40 JavaStations for thin-client computing stations. Symantec Corporation has donated their Visual Café Java development software for research and student use.

Pitt Parallel Computer Laboratory

The Pitt Parallel Computer Laboratory is a hands-on facility for graduate and undergraduate research in the design of parallel computer hardware and software. The main element of the laboratory is a reconfigurable 64 node parallel computer capable of executing as both a homogenous and heterogeneous array. The reconfigurability allows it to be connected as a mesh, torus, hypercube, etc. For maximum access by researchers, the typical array/cluster can be configured with four, eight, or 16 nodes. The experimental nature of the array provides a communication by IEEE 802.3, RS232, and parallel internode buses.

Tomorrow's Research

Cutting-edge research in high-tech laboratories.

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