Robert W. Wisniewski photo

Projects and Groups

Research Areas

Contact Information

Robert W. Wisniewski
Chief Software Architect, Manager, Blue Gene and Exascale Software
Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY USA
bobwwatus.ibm.com      +1dash914dash945dash3181


Refereed Publications

Robert W. Wisniewski, Dilma Da Silva, Marc Auslander, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, "K42: Failure or Success: Lessons for the OS Community", Operating System Review OSR 2008.
K42: Failure or Success: Lessons for the OS Community
Robert W. Wisniewski, Dilma Da Silva, Marc Auslander, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg "K42: Failure or Success: Lessons for the OS Community", Operating System Review (OSR) January 2008,
K42: Building a Complete Operating System
Orran Krieger, Marc Auslander, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, Jimi Xenidis, Dilma Da Silva, Michal Ostrowski, Jonathan Appavoo, Maria Butrico, Mark Mergen, Amos Waterland, Volkmar Uhlig, "K42: Building a Complete Operating System", EuroSys 2006, Leuven Belgium April 2006.
K42: An Infrastructure for Operating System Research
Marc Auslander, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, Jimi Xenidis, Dilma Da Silva, Michal Ostrowski, Jonathan Appavoo, Maria Butrico, Mark Mergen, Amos Waterland, Volkmar Uhlig, "K42: An Infrastructure for Operating System Research", ACM SIGOPS Operating System Review, volume 40, number 2, pages 34-42, April 2006.
Performance and Environment Monitoring for Continuous Program Optimization
Calin Cascaval, Evelyn Duesterwald, Peter F. Sweeney, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Performance and Environment Monitoring for Continuous Program Optimization", IBM Systems Journal, Volume 50 Number 2/3 2006 pp 239-248.
Multiple Page Size Modeling and Optimization
Calin Cascaval, Evelyn Duesterwald, Peter F. Sweeney, and Robert W. Wisniewski "Multiple Page Size Modeling and Optimization", PACT 2005 (Parallel Architectures and Compilation Techniques), Saint Louis, Missouri, September 17-21, 2005.
Online Performance Analysis by Statistical Sampling of Microprocessor Performance Counters
Reza Azimi, Michael Stumm, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Online Performance Analysis by Statistical Sampling of Microprocessor Performance Counters", ICS 2005 (International Conference on Supercomputing) Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 20-22, 2005.
Providing Dynamic Update in an Operating System
Andrew Baumann, Jonathan Appavoo, Dilma Da Silva, Jeremy Kerr, Orran Krieger, and Robert W. Wisniewski, Providing Dynamic Update in an Operating System", USENIX 2005, pp. 279-291, Anaheim California April 2005.
Module Hot-Swapping for Dynamic Update and Reconfiguration in K42
Andrew Baumann, Jeremy Kerr, Jonathan Appavoo, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Module Hot-Swapping for Dynamic Update and Reconfiguration in K42" LCA 2005, Ausralian Linux Technical Conference, Canberra Australia, April 18-23, 2005.
K42: an Open-Source Linux-Compatible Scalable Operating System Kernel
pre-print version
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Maria Burtico, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, Mark Mergen, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, Jimi Xenidis, "K42: an Open-Source Linux-Compatible Scalable Operating System Kernel", IBM Systems Journal pp. 427-440 Vol. 44, No. 2, 2005.
Performance and Environment Monitoring for Whole-System Characterization and Optimization  
Robert W. Wisniewski, Peter F. Sweeney, Kartik Sudeep, Matthias Hauswirth, Evelyn Duesterwald, Calin Cascaval, and Reza Azimi, "Performance and Environment Monitoring for Whole-System Characterization and Optimization", PAC2 (Conference on Power/Performance interaction with Architecture, Circuits, and Compilers) 2004, Conference on Power/Performance interaction with Architecture, Circuits, and Compilers, pp 15-24, Ocober 6-8, 2004, Yorktown Heights, NY
Improving Operating System Availability With Dynamic Update
Andrew Baumann, Jonathan Appavoo, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Improving Operating System Availability With Dynamic Update", OASIS (Workshop on Operating System and Architectural Support for the on demand IT InfraStructure), pps 21-27, October 9, 2004, Boston Masschusetts.
Efficient, Unified, and Scalable Performance Monitoring for Multiprocessor Operating Systems pdf or ps
Robert W. Wisniewski and Bryan Rosenburg, "Efficient, Unified, and Scalable Performance Monitoring for Multiprocessor Operating Systems", Supercomputing, 2003, Phoenix, Arizona.
relayfs: An Efficient Unified Approach for Transmitting Data from Kernel to User Space pdf or ps
Michel Dagenais, Richard Moore, Robert Wisniewski, Karim Yaghmour, and Tom Zanussi, "relayfs: An Efficient Unified Approach for Transmitting Data from Kernel to User Space", Linux 2003 UK Unix User Group's Annual Linux Technical Conference, July 21- August 3rd 2003, Edinburgh, Scotland.
relayfs: An Efficient Unified Approach for Transmitting Data from Kernel to User Space pdf or ps
Tom Zanussi, and Karim Yaghmour, Robert Wisniewski, Richard Moore, and Michel Dagenais, "relayfs: An Efficient Unified Approach for Transmitting Data from Kernel to User Space", OLS (Ottawa Linux Symposium) 2003, pg 519-531.
Providing a Linux API on the scalable K42 Kernel
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, David Edelsohn, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, Jimi Xenidis, "Providing a Linux API on the scalable K42 Kernel", Proceedings of Freenix 2003, pg 323-336.
System Support for Online Reconfiguration
Craig A. N. Soules, Jonathan Appavoo, Kevin Hui, Robert W. Wisniewski, Dilma Da Silva, Gregory R. Ganger, Orran Krieger, Michael Stumm, Marc Auslander, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Jimi Xenidis, "System Support for Online Reconfiguration", Proceedings of Usenix 2003, pg 141-154.
Efficient and Accurate Tracing of Events in Linux Clusters pdf or ps
Michel Dagenais, Richard Moore, Robert Wisniewski, Karim Yaghmour, and Tom Zanussi, "Efficient and Accurate Tracing of Events in Linux Clusters", HPCS (High Performance Computing Systems) 2003 .
Enabling Autonomic System Software with Hot-Swapping
pre-print version
Jonathan Appavoo, Kevin Hui, Craig A. N. Soules, Robert W. Wisniewski, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, Marc Auslander, David Edelsohn, Ben Gamsa, Gregory R. Ganger, Paul McKenney, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Michael Stumm, Jimi Xenidis: ``Enabling Autonomic System Software with Hot-Swapping.'' IBM Systems Journal, Vol. 42, No. 1, pg 60-76, 2003.
An Infrastructure for Multiprocessor Run-Time Adaptation
Jonathan Appavoo, Kevin Hui, Michael Stumm, Robert Wisniewski, Dilma da Silva, Orran Krieger, Craig Soules, ``An Infrastructure for Multiprocessor Run-Time Adaptation'', Proceedings of WOSS 2002 (ACM SIGSOFT Workshop on Self-Healing Systems), pg 3-8.
Position Summary: Supporting Hot-Swappable Components for System Software
full version
Kevin Hui, Jonathan Appavoo, Robert Wisniewski, Marc Auslander, David Edelsohn, Ben Gamsa, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, Michael Stumm, ``Position Summary: Supporting Hot-Swappable Components for System Software.'' HOTOS 2001.
Scheduler Conscious Synchronization
Leonidas I. Kontothanassis, Robert W. Wisniewski, and Michael L. Scott ``Scheduler Conscious Synchronization.'' February 1997 TOCS ACM Transactions on Computer Systems.
Adaptable Planner Primitives for Real-World AI Applications
Robert W. Wisniewski and Christoper M. Brown ``Adaptable Planner Primitives for Real-World AI Applications,'' In IJCAI, August 20-25, 1995, pp. 64-71.
High Performance Synchronization Algorithms for Multiprogrammed Multiprocessors
Robert W. Wisniewski, Leonidas I. Kontothanassis, and Michael L. Scott ``High Performance Synchronization Algorithms for Multiprogrammed Multiprocessors'' In PPoPP, July 19-21, 1995, pp. 199-206.
A Model and Tools for Supporting Parallel Real-Time Applications in Unix Environments
Robert W. Wisniewski and Luis S. Stevens ``A Model and Tools for Supporting Parallel Real-Time Applications in Unix Environments.'' In RTAS - Real-Time Technology and Applications Symposium (formerly RTOSS)}, May 15-17, 1995. pp. 126-133.
An Argument for a Runtime Layer in SPARTA Design
Robert W. Wisniewski and Christoper M. Brown ``An Argument for a Runtime Layer in SPARTA Design.'' In Proc. of the 11th IEEE RTOSS, pp 91-95. Seattle WA. May 18-19 1994.
Scalable Spin Locks for Multiprogrammed Systems
Robert W. Wisniewski, Leonidas I. Kontothanassis, and Michael L. Scott ``Scalable Spin Locks for Multiprogrammed Systems.'' In Proc. of the 8th IPPS, pp 583-589. Cancun Mexico. April 26-29 1994.
Using Scheduler Information to Achieve Optimal Barrier Synchronization Performance
Leonidas I. Kontothanassis and Robert W. Wisniewski ``Using Scheduler Information to Achieve Optimal Barrier Synchronization Performance.'' In Proceedings of the 4th PPoPP, pp 64-72. San Diego CA. May 19-22 1993.
Ephor, A Run-Time Environment for Parallel Intelligent Applications
Robert W. Wisniewski and Christopher M. Brown ``Ephor, A Run-Time Environment for Parallel Intelligent Applications.'' In Proc. of the IEEE PDRTS, pp 51-60. Newport Beach CA. April 13-15 1993.
System Design Issues for Parallel Intelligent Applications
Robert W. Wisniewski and Christopher M. Brown ``System Design Issues for Parallel Intelligent Applications.'' In Proc. of the 8th UBGCCS, pp 68-77. Buffalo NY. March 1993.
Linking Shared Segments
W. E. Garrett, M. L. Scott, R. G. Bianchini, L. I. Kontothanassis, R. A. McCallum, J. A. Thomas, R. Wisniewski, S. Luk ``Linking Shared Segments.'' In Proc. of the USENIX Winter 1993 Technical Conference, pp 13-27, San Diego CA. January 1993.
Using Communication-to-Computation Ratio in Parallel Program Design and Performance Prediction
M. Crovella, R. Bianchini, T. LeBlanc, E. Markatos, and R. Wisniewski ``Using Communication-to-Computation Ratio in Parallel Program Design and Performance Prediction.'' In Proc. of the 4th SPDP, pp 238-245. Dallas Tx. December 1992.

Technical Reports

Enabling Scalable Performance for General Purpose Workloads on Shared Memory Multiprocessors
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Dilma Da Silva, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, Jimi Xenidis, Michael Stumm, Ben Gamsa, Reza Azimi, Raymond Fingas, Adrian Tam, David Tam, "Enabling Scalable Performance for General Purpose Workloads on Shared Memory Multiprocessors", IBM Research Report RC22863
K42 Overview   pdf or ps
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Dilma DaSilva, David Edelsohn, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, and Jimi Xenidis "An Overview of K42" August 2002.
K42's Performance Monitoring and Tracing   pdf or ps
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Dilma DaSilva, David Edelsohn, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, and Jimi Xenidis "K42's Performance Monitoring and Tracing" August 2002.
Memory Management in K42   pdf or ps
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Dilma DaSilva, David Edelsohn, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, and Jimi Xenidis "Memory Management in K42" August 2002.
Scheduling in K42   pdf or ps
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Dilma DaSilva, David Edelsohn, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, and Jimi Xenidis "Scheduling in K42" August 2002.
Utilizing Linux Kernel Components in K42   pdf or ps
Jonathan Appavoo, Marc Auslander, Dilma DaSilva, David Edelsohn, Orran Krieger, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Robert W. Wisniewski, and Jimi Xenidis "Utilizing Linux Kernel Components in K42" August 2002.
Achieving High Performance in Parallel Applications via Kernel-Application Interaction
Robert W. Wisniewski ``Achieving High Performance in Parallel Applications via Kernel-Application Interaction'' Technical Report 615, PhD thesis, Department of Computer Science, University of Rochester, April 1996.
Adaptive Scheduling Mechanisms for SPARTAs
Robert W. Wisniewski and Christopher M. Brown ``Adaptive Scheduling Mechanisms for SPARTAs.'' Technical Report 604, Department of Computer Science, University of Rochester, January 1996.
Real-World Shepherding - Combining Vision, Manipulation, and Planning in Real Time
Peter von Kaenel and Robert W. Wisniewski ``Real-World Shepherding - Combining Vision, Manipulation, and Planning in Real Time,'' Technical Report 530, Department of Computer Science, University of Rochester, August 1994.
Scalable Spin Locks for Multiprogrammed Systems
Robert W. Wisniewski, Leonidas I. Kontothanassis, and Michael L. Scott ``Scalable Spin Locks for Multiprogrammed Systems.'' Technical Report no. 454, Rochester University. April 1993.
Dynamic Sharing and Backward Compatibility on 64-Bit Machines
B. Garrett, R. Bianchini, L. Kontothanassis, A. McCallum, J. Thomas, R. Wisniewski, and M. Scott ``Dynamic Sharing and Backward Compatibility on 64-Bit Machines.'' Technical Report no. 418, Rochester University. April 1992.

Patents Issued

A Technique for Efficiently Transferring Moderate Amounts of Data Across Address Space Boundaries
Marc Auslander, David Edelsohn, Hubertus Franke, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "A Technique for Efficiently Transferring Moderate Amounts of Data Across Address Space Boundaries" Issued July 29, 2003. United States Patent Number: US6601146.
Locally Made, Globally Coordinated Resource Allocation Decisions Based on Information Provided by the Second-Price Auction Model
Marc Auslander, David Edelsohn, Hubertus Franke, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Locally Made, Globally Coordinated Resource Allocation Decisions Based on Information Provided by the Second-Price Auction Model" Issued July 1, 2003. United States Patent Number: US6587865.
A Visual Aid to Simplify Achieving Correct Cell Interrelations in Spreadsheets
Robert W. Wisniewski, "A Visual Aid to Simplify Achieving Correct Cell Interrelations in Spreadsheets" Issued October 1, 2002. United States Patent Number: US6460059.

Patents Pending

System and Method for Controlling Viewability of Instant Messaging Sessions
Neal Keller, Cliff Pickover, Robert Wisniewski, Genady Grabarnik, Lev Kozakov, Nagui Halim, Larisa Shwartz "System and Method for Controlling Viewability of Instant Messaging Sessions" Filed: August 2006.
Near Memory Processor Based Translation Prefetching
Robert Wisniewski, Orran Krieger, Balaram Sinharoy, Brett Tremaine "Near Memory Processor Based Translation Prefetching" Filed: June 2006.
Operating System Thread Scheduling for Optimal Heat Dissipation
Robert Wisniewski, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, Brett Tremaine "Operating System Thread Scheduling for Optimal Heat Dissipation" Filed: June 2006.
Intelligent Cache Replacement Mechanism With Varying and Adaptive Temporal Residency Requirements
Robert Wisniewski, Xiaowei Shen, Balaram Sinharoy "Intelligent Cache Replacement Mechanism With Varying and Adaptive Temporal Residency Requirements" Filed: June 2006.
Scheduling for Functional Units on Simultaneous Multi-Threaded Processors
Robert Wisniewski, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, Balaram Sinharoy, Brett Tremaine "Scheduling for Functional Units on Simultaneous Multi-Threaded Processors" Filed: June 2006.
Cache Reconfiguration Based on Run-Time Performance Data or Software Hint
Robert Wisniewski, Xiaowei Shen, Balaram Sinharoy, Brett Tremaine "Cache Reconfiguration Based on Run-Time Performance Data or Software Hint" Filed: June 2006.
Latency-Aware Thread Scheduling in Non-Uniform Cache Architecture Systems
Robert Wisniewski, Xiaowei Shen, Balaram Sinharoy "Latency-Aware Thread Scheduling in Non-Uniform Cache Architecture Systems" Filed: June 2006.
Quality of Service Scheduling for Simultaneous Multi-Threaded Processors
Robert Wisniewski, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, Brett Tremaine "Quality of Service Scheduling for Simultaneous Multi-Threaded Processors" Filed: June 2006.
A mechanism to save and restore cache and translation trace for fast context switch
Peter Hochschild, Xiaowei Shen, Balaram Sinharoy, Robert Wisniewski "A mechanism to save and restore cache and translation trace for fast context switch" Filed: June 2006.
Dynamic Update Mechanisms for Operating Systems
Robert Wisniewski, Dilma da Silva, Jonathan Appavoo, Orran Krieger, Andrew Baumann, "Dynamic Update Mechanisms for Operating Systems" Filed: September 2005.
A mechanism for predicting the performance benefits of mapping subsets of the application data to multiple page sizes
Calin Cascaval, Evelyn Duesterwald, Peter Sweeney, Robert Wisniewski, "A mechanism for predicting the performance benefits of mapping subsets of the application data to multiple page sizes" Filed: September 2005.
System for Networked Educational Equipment
Neal Keller, Robert Wisniewski, Cliff Pickover, "System for Networked Educational Equipment" Filed: July 2005.
An Application Programming Interface for Vertical Integrated Performance and Environment Monitoring
Calin Cascaval, Evelyn Duesterwald, Peter Sweeney, Robert Wisniewski, "An Application Programming Interface for Vertical Integrated Performance and Environment Monitoring" Filed: May 2005.
Methods and Apparatus for Managing and Distinguishing Instant Messaging Sessions and Threads
Robert Wisniewski, Neal Keller, Cliff Pickover, Jarir Chaar, "Methods and Apparatus for Managing and Distinguishing Instant Messaging Sessions and Threads" Filed: April 2005.
On-the-Fly Creation of Product Sets for Auction
Robert Wisniewski, Tom Chefalas, Cliff Pickover, Steve Mastrianni "On-the-Fly Creation of Product Sets for Auction" Filed: November 2004.
Flexible Real-Time Multiprocessor Scheduling of Operating Systems Running Under a Hypervisor
Marc Auslander, B Betzler, Dilma Da Silva, Michael Day, Orran Krieger, Paul Mckenney, Michal Ostrowski, Bryan Rosenburg, Jimi Xenidis, Roert W. Wisniewski, "Flexible Real-Time Multiprocessor Scheduling of Operating Systems Running Under a Hypervisor " Filed: June 2004.
Communication Tagging for Database Task Management
Mary Y. L. Wisniewski and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Communication Tagging for Database Task management" Filed: December 2003.
Achieving Autonomic Behavior in Operating System via a Hot-Swapping Mechanism
Jonathan Appavoo, Dilma da Silva, Kevin Hui, Orran Krieger, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "Achieving Autonomic Behavior in Operating System via a Hot-Swapping Mechanism" Filed: September 2003.
An Enhancement to the MCS Lock for Improved Programmability
Marc Auslander, Orran Krieger, Bryan Rosenburg, and Robert W. Wisniewski, "An Enhancement to the MCS Lock for Improved Programmability" Filed: May 2002.
A Method of Providing Information on Public Networks in a Secure Manner Without Requiring Trust of the Service Provider and Avoiding the Dispersion of Accessibility at the Client
Yuirj Baransky, Hubertus Franke, Pratap Pattnaik, David Safford, Robert W. Wisniewski, "A Method of Providing Information on Public Networks in a Secure Manner Without Requiring Trust of the Service Provider and Avoiding the Dispersion of Accessibility at the Client" Filed: July 2000.