Welcome to the Operating Systems Group

The Operating Systems Group at KIT is focusing on the design, implementation, and analysis of system software, that is low-level software running directly on top of the hardware interface. As a mediator between applications and the hardware, system software plays a central role in the software stack. It manages the computer's hardware resources such as memory and computation time and provides common abstractions and services for efficient and secure resource access.

Our field of research is as diverse as the applications and requirements for system software. This is especially true in the modern world with its ever-increasing prevalence of computing devices.

At the Operating Systems Group we want to answer research questions concerning the security and performance of system software by analyzing a system's internal execution and resource usage patterns. In pursing this goal, we are developing novel approaches to fast and authentic full system simulation, deterministic replay, and tracing, allowing us to observe runtime behavior in high fidelity without side effects. Our work comprises the whole software stack, from the application down to the operating system and virtual machine hypervisors. more

Another focus of our work is adapting system software to the increasing use of specialized hardware accelerators such as GPUs and SIMD extensions. In this course, we are analyzing the runtime effects of these units on system performance, establish new mechanisms for fair resource sharing, and research load characterization and migration policies to optimize the execution of threads. more

In systems research, nothing ever stands still. Even seemingly mature areas such as system main memory management need to be reconsidered when new technologies emerge. With the introduction of persistent main memory the criteria for memory allocation policies have broadened, forcing the operating system to balance latency, bandwidth, capacity, and energy consumption. We strive for a holistic approach to memory management that finds the best tread-offs for the scenario at hand. more

The Operating Systems Group is also heavily involved in the Bachelor's and Master's program in computer science at KIT. We give an introductory lecture to operating systems for undergraduates, organize seminars, and offer advanced labs and lectures in the areas of virtualization and power management in the Master's program. We also regularly supervise theses, thereby giving students the chance to actively take part in the exciting field of systems research. more