Information Sciences Institute: Difference between revisions

ISI actively participated in the [[information revolution]], and it played a leading role in developing and managing the early [[Internet]] and its predecessor [[ARPAnet]].<ref name=remarkable>Bekey, George A. ''"A Remarkable Trajectory: From Humble Beginnings to Global Prominence'', The history of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering." Charleston: CreateSpace, 2015. Print.</ref><ref name="internetsociety.org">{{Cite web | url=http://www.internetsociety.org/articles/tcpip-25th-anniversary | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403180411/http://www.internetsociety.org/articles/tcpip-25th-anniversary | url-status=dead | archive-date=2012-04-03 | title=TCP/IP 25th Anniversary &#124; Internet Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2010/03/internet-pioneers-gather-in-los-angeels-to-honor-usc-information-sciences-institute.html|title=Internet pioneers gather in Marina del Rey to honor USC's Information Sciences Institute|date=26 March 2010|website=Latimesblogs.latimes.com|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> The Institute conducts basic and applied research supported by more than 20 U.S. government agencies involved in defense, science, health, homeland security, energy and other areas. Annual funding is about $100 million.<ref name="isi.edu">{{cite web|url=http://www.isi.edu/about|title=About ISI|website=Isi.edu|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref>

ISI research spans [[artificial intelligence]] (AI), [[Computer security|cybersecurity]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-sony-hacked-spreadsheet-salaries-ssns-email-up-20141202-story.html|title=Sony execs' salaries, employee SSNs allegedly leaked in breach|first=Saba|last=Hamedy|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=13 August 2018|date=2014-12-02}}</ref> [[grid computing]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.infoworld.com/article/2681952/networking/2003-infoworld-innovators--ian-foster--carl-kesselman--and-steve-tuecke.html|title=2003 InfoWorld Innovators: Ian Foster, Carl Kesselman, and Steve Tuecke|first=Paul|last=Krill|website=Infoworld.com|access-date=13 August 2018|date=2003-05-23}}</ref> [[cloud computing]], [[quantum computing]], [[microelectronics]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://science.dodlive.mil/2015/01/09/advancing-dods-ability-to-test-critical-microelectronics/|title=Advancing DoD's Ability to Test Critical Microelectronics|website=Science.dodlive.mil|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/design/stopping-hardware-trojans-in-their-tracks|title=Stopping Hardware Trojans in Their Tracks|website=Spectrum.ieee.org|date=20 January 2015 |access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> [[Supercomputer|supercomputing]], [[Small satellite#Nanosatellites|nano-satellites]] and many other areas. AI expertise includes [[natural language processing]], in which ISI has an international reputation,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.aclweb.org/website/node/442|title=ACL Member Portal - The Association for Computational Linguistics Member Portal|website=Aclweb.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/science/25code.html?_r=0|title=How 18th-Century Copiale Cipher Was Cracked|first=John|last=Markoff|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=13 August 2018|date=2011-10-24}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1162/coli_a_00171|title=Influences and Inferences|journal=Computational Linguistics|volume=39|issue=4|pages=781–798|date=2013-09-30|last1=Hobbs|first1=Jerryr|s2cid=11237614|doi-access=free}}</ref> reconfigurable [[robotics]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2475070,00.asp|title=How Tiny 'SuperBots' Will Create Cheap, Modular Satellites|website=Pcmag.com|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> information integration, motion analysis<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-1028-nba-stats-20131028-story.html|title=Stat-conscious NBA switches to the (advanced) metric system|first=Ben|last=Bolch|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|access-date=13 August 2018|date=2013-10-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2014/11/02/360943860/new-players-in-the-nba-big-data-user-controlled-jumbotrons|title=New Players In The NBA: Big Data, User-Controlled Jumbotrons|website=Npr.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> and social media analysis. Hardware/software expertise includes [[cyber-physical system]] security, [[data mining]], [[reconfigurable computing]] and cloud computing. In networking, ISI explores Internet resilience, [[Internet traffic engineering|Internet traffic analysis]] and [[photonics]], among other areas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.isi.edu|title=Information Sciences Institute|website=Isi.edu|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/|title=Page Not Found - Los Angeles Times|website=Isi.edu|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> Researchers also work in scientific data management, [[wireless]] technologies, [[biomimetics]] and electrical [[smart grid]], in which ISI is advising the [[Los Angeles Department of Water and Power]] on a major demonstration project.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scpr.org/news/2014/07/01/45096/ladwp-flips-the-switch-on-52-000-smart-meters|title=LADWP flips the switch on 52,000 'smart meters'|first=Southern California Public|last=Radio|date=1 July 2014|website=Scpr.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> Another current initiative involves [[big data]] brain imaging jointly with the [[Keck School of Medicine of USC]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/18/local/la-me-usc-ucla-recruit-20130518/|title=USC made its offer to neuroscientists a no-brainer|first1=Larry|last1=Gordon|first2=Eryn|last2=Brown|date=18 May 2013|website=Articles.latimes.com|access-date=13 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150517001308/http://articles.latimes.com/2013/may/18/local/la-me-usc-ucla-recruit-20130518|archive-date=17 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

ISI also operates [[MOSIS]], a [[Multi-project wafer service|multi-project electronic circuit wafer service]] that has prototyped more than 60,000 [[Integrated circuit|chips]] since 1981. MOSIS provides design tools and pools circuit designs to produce specialty and low-volume chips for corporations, universities and other research entities worldwide. The Institute also has given rise to several [[Startup company|startup]] and [[Research spin-off|spinoff]] companies in grid software, geospatial information fusion, machine translation, data integration and other technologies.

ISI was founded by [[Keith Uncapher]], who headed the computer research group at [[RAND Corporation]] in the 1960s and early 1970s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/16/business/keith-w-uncapher-networking-pioneer-80.html|title=Keith W. Uncapher, Networking Pioneer, 80|first=Katie|last=Hafner|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=13 August 2018|date=2002-10-16}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2002/oct/12/local/me-keith12|title=Keith Uncapher, 80; Founder of USC Science Institute, Computer Pioneer|first=Joseph|last=Menn|date=12 October 2002|website=Articles.latimes.com|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> Uncapher decided to leave RAND after his group's funding was cut in 1971. He approached the [[University of California, Los Angeles]] about creating an off-campus technology institute, but was told that a decision would take 15 months. He then presented the concept to USC, which approved the proposal in five days.<ref name=remarkable /> ISI was launched with three employees in 1972. Its first proposal was funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in 30 days for $6 million.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/11299/107692|title=Oral history interview with Keith W. Uncapher|first=Uncapher, Keith|last=W.|date=10 July 1989|website=Conservancy.umn.edu|hdl=11299/107692 |access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref>

ISI became one of the earliest nodes on ARPANET,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbi.umn.edu/iterations/kilker.html|title=Iterations: An interdisciplinary journal of software history|website=Cbi.umn.edu|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> the predecessor to the Internet, and in 1977 figured prominently in a demonstration of its international viability.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.computerhistory.org/internet_history/internet_history_70s.html|title=Internet History of 1970s - Internet History - Computer History Museum|website=Computerhistory.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> ISI also helped refine the [[TCP/IP]] communications protocols fundamental to Net operations,<ref name="internetsociety.org"/> and researcher [[Paul Mockapetris]] developed the now-familiar [[Domain Name System]] characterized by .com, .org, .net, .gov, and .edu<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/paul-mockapetris|title=Paul Mockapetris - Internet Hall of Fame|website=internethalloffame.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> on which the Net still operates. (The names .com, .org et al. were invented at [[SRI International]], an ongoing collaborator.) [[Steve Crocker]] originated the [[Request for Comments]] (RFC) series, the written record of the network's technical structure and operation that both documented and shaped the emerging Internet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/steve-crocker|title=Steve Crocker - Internet Hall of Fame|website=internethalloffame.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> Another ISI researcher, [[Danny Cohen (engineer)|Danny Cohen]], became first to implement [[Voice over IP|packet voice]] and packet video over ARPANET, demonstrating the viability of packet switching for real-time applications.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://internethalloffame.org/inductees/danny-cohen|title=Danny Cohen - Internet Hall of Fame|website=internethalloffame.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref>

[[Jonathan Postel]] collaborated in development of TCP/IP, DNS and the [[Simple Mail Transfer Protocol|SMTP]] protocol that supports [[email]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.internethalloffame.org/inductees/jon-postel|title=Jon Postel - Internet Hall of Fame|website=Internethalloffame.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> He also edited the RFC for nearly three decades until his sudden death in 1998, when ISI colleagues assumed responsibility. The Institute retained that role until 2009. Postel simultaneously directed the [[Internet Assigned Numbers Authority]] (IANA) and its predecessor, which assign Internet addresses. IANA was administered from ISI until a nonprofit organization, [[ICANN]], was created for that purpose in 1998.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.icann.org/en/system/files/files/sac-067-en.pdf|title=SAC067 : Overview and History of the IANA Functions|website=Icann.org|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref>

*MONARCH supercomputer-on-a-chip<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cs.sandia.gov/CSRI/Workshops/2009/FaultTolerantSpaceborne/presentations/T-1030-Prager-Raytheon-SpaceComp-Prager-Public.pdf |title=Request Rejected |website=www.cs.sandia.gov |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206225304/https://www.cs.sandia.gov/CSRI/Workshops/2009/FaultTolerantSpaceborne/presentations/T-1030-Prager-Raytheon-SpaceComp-Prager-Public.pdf |archive-date=6 February 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ll.mit.edu/HPEC/agendas/proc04/abstracts/granacki_john.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100609215328/http://www.ll.mit.edu/HPEC/agendas/proc04/abstracts/granacki_john.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2011, several ISI [[Natural language processing|natural language]] experts advised the IBM team that created [[IBM Watson|Watson]], the computer that became the first machine to win against human competitors on the ''[[Jeopardy!]]'' TV show.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2010/viterbi-school-experts.htm|title=USC - Viterbi School of Engineering - Viterbi School Computer Scientists Contributed to the Development of IBM Watson|website=viterbi.usc.edu|access-date=13 August 2018|archive-date=23 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210523015310/https://viterbi.usc.edu/news/news/2010/viterbi-school-experts.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/02/ibms-watson-on-jeopardy-computer-takes-big-lead-over-humans-in-round-2.html|title=IBM's Watson on 'Jeopardy': Computer takes big lead over humans in Round 2 [Updated, with video]|date=15 February 2011|website=Latimesblogs.latimes.com|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> In 2012, ISI's Kevin Knight spearheaded a successful drive to crack the [[Copiale cipher]], a lengthy encrypted manuscript that had remained unreadable for 250 years.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/11/ff-the-manuscript/all|title=They Cracked This 250-Year-Old Code, and Found a Secret Society Inside|issue=12|first=Noah|last=Shachtman|magazine=Wired|volume=20|access-date=13 August 2018|date=2012-11-16}}</ref> Also in 2012, the [[USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center]] (QCC) became the first organization to operate a [[quantum annealing]] system outside of its manufacturer, [[D-Wave Systems |D-Wave Systems, Inc]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wired.com/2012/02/dwave-quantum-cloud/all/1 |title=Archived copy |access-date=2017-03-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619192517/http://www.wired.com/2012/02/dwave-quantum-cloud/all/1 |archive-date=2016-06-19 |url-status=dead }}</ref> USC, ISI and Lockheed Martin now are performing basic and applied research into [[quantum computing]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-it/can-quantum-computing-change-the-world-this-start-up-is-betting-on-it/2015/05/03/e4681b48-ecfe-11e4-a55f-38924fca94f9_story.html|title=Can quantum computing change the world? This start-up is betting on it.|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=13 August 2018}}</ref> A second quantum annealing system is located at [[Ames Research Center|NASA Ames Research Center]], and is operated jointly by [[NASA]] and [[Google]].<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.nature.com/news/google-and-nasa-snap-up-quantum-computer-1.12999|title=Google and NASA snap up quantum computer|first=Nicola|last=Jones|date=16 May 2013|journal=Nature|access-date=13 August 2018|doi=10.1038/nature.2013.12999|s2cid=57405432}}</ref>