2nd IEEE International Workshop on Networking Meets Databases (NetDB'06)
in cooperation with
 22nd IEEE Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE 2006)
April 3, 2006
Atlanta, GA, USA

Keynote Talk

What is the Future of the Internet
 Prof. Joseph Hellerstein, UC Berkeley

Abstract: Many say that the Internet will see substantial architectural changes in the near future, either via rapid evolution or revolution. In this time of architectural flux, software tools are needed for rapidly prototyping and deploying new architectural components. We are developing a system called P2 that allows Internet software designers to declaratively specify "what" they want the network to achieve at a high level, without regard to "how" it is implemented. Declarative specification enables extremely concise network specifications (100x fewer lines of code than C++) that compile into respectably-performing distributed dataflow programs. The work exposes previously unseen connections across areas -- e.g. between wireless routing protocols and deductive database optimizations -- and therefore opportunities for innovation in both camps. It also offers the ability to both statically and dynamically test the safety of protocols and adherence to specifications.
  To date P2 has been used for an unusual breadth of protocols, from core network routing and overlay networks, to formal distributed systems protocols, to distributed statistical inference algorithms. The opportunity to rapidly prototype these various protocols in a single high-level language also suggests opportunities for optimizing across traditional layers, both manually and automatically. Joint work with colleagues at Berkeley, Intel, Wisconsin, Rice and the Max Planck Institute.

Bio: Joseph M. Hellerstein is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of California, Berkeley. Hellerstein's research focuses on data management and networking, including database systems, sensor networks, declarative networking, peer-to-peer and distributed systems. Hellerstein is the recipient of multiple awards for his research, including an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation fellowship, ACM-SIGMOD's "Test of Time", VLDB Best Paper, and IBM's Best Paper in Computer Science. In 1999, MIT's Technology Review named him one of the top 100 young technology innovators worldwide in their inaugural "TR100" list.
   In addition to his role in academia, from 2003-2005 he was Director of Intel Research, Berkeley, where he led research in networking and query processing for the Internet and for sensor networks. Hellerstein was a co-founder of Cohera Corporation (now part of Oracle), where he served as Chief Scientist from 1998-2001. Key ideas from his research have been incorporated into commercial and open-source database systems including IBM's DB2 and Informix, Oracle's PeopleSoft Catalog Management, and the open-source PostgreSQL system.
   He has also led a number of open-source systems projects at Berkeley, including TelegraphCQ, TinyDB, PIER and P2.