NSF Conference on Biologically Inspired Computing

University Of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

EIA 0332251 Harvey Rubin University of Pennsylvania Project Summary Biologically-Inspired Reliable Computing Systems: Biologically-inspired computing seeks to understand and replicate some of the fundamental computational principles by which natural biological information processing systems operate. Traditional computing systems today are extremely brittle in situations for which they have not been explicitly designed. In comparison, biological systems are adaptable to new environments, can handle a large amount of uncertainty in their perception and processing of the surrounding world, and can collaborate with other biological systems to solve complex problems. Biological systems also have sophisticated protection and repair mechanisms. Is it possible for computing systems to display the same degree of robustness and reliability across a wide range of situations? What types of computational architectures and algorithms are needed to achieve this reliability? How can such systems be developed and organized to ensure they can deal with faults? How can these systems be put together to leverage their individual capabilities? Can their survivability be ensured? These are some of the questions this workshop seeks to address. The workshop brings together researchers who work in areas close to biology and computer and information science to discuss how biological systems are able to achieve their robustness and reliability, and how some of these computing principles can be incorporated into artificial systems. The main focus of the workshop will be the reliability of biological computation and information processing, and will explore how this reliability is achieved in four areas: cognitive computing processes, development and self-organization, social interactions, and protection and immunity. The format will bring together researchers in each of these fields to delve into the relevant questions of how biological systems operate robustly and their applicability to computing systems. The resulting presentations and discussions of the workshop will be made available through web-based publications as well as printed materials.