Ulrich Schmid
Full professor (Head of the ECS Group)
Research
Publications (+ BibTeX Entries)
Teaching Other responsibilities About myself
Research
I am primarily interested in the scientific foundations of real-world problems, and in sound solutions emanating from those; the term applied basic research has been coined for this type of research. My major concerns are motivation and support of my PhD students and PostDocs and, more generally, creating a climate that combines challenge, openness, fun & freedom in my research group. My past and current PhD students (I am proud of and grateful to all of them) could tell ...
Research interests: Starting out from the mathematical throughput analysis of network protocols for multiaccess channels, I turned to the combinatorial and asymptotic analysis of the performance of queueing systems subject to deadlines. My current major research interests are modeling and mathematical analysis of fault-tolerant distributed algorithms, networked distributed real-time systems, and fault-tolerant asynchronous VLSI circuits/SoCs.
Here is what I would currently consider my five most important publications:
- Michael Drmota and Ulrich Schmid. The analysis of the expected successful operation time of slotted ALOHA, IEEE Transactions on Information Theory 39(5):1567-1577, 1993.
- Ulrich Schmid and Klaus Schossmaier. How to reconcile fault-tolerant interval intersection with the Lipschitz condition, Distributed Computing 14(2):101-111, May 2001.
- Peter Robinson and Ulrich Schmid. The Asynchronous Bounded-Cycle Model. Theoretical Computer Science, 412(40):5580-5601, 2011. (Best Paper Award at SSS'08).
- Matthias Függer and Ulrich Schmid. Reconciling fault-tolerant distributed computing and systems-on-chip. Distributed Computing, 24(6):323-355, 2012.
- Heinrich Moser and Ulrich Schmid. Optimal clock synchronization revisited: Upper and lower bounds in real-time systems. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Principles of Distributed Systems (OPODIS), LNCS 4305, pages 95-109, Bordeaux & Saint-Emilion, France, Dec 2006. Springer Verlag.
Five additional publications can be found here.
Selected presentations:
- A Perspective of Fault-Tolerant Clock Synchronization. Keynote IEEE International Symposium on Precision Clock Synchronization for Measurement, Control and Communication (ISPCS'07).
- Distributed Algorithms and VLSI. Keynote 10th International Symposium on Stabilization, Safety, and Security of Distributed Systems (SSS'08).
- Synchrony and Time in Fault-Tolerant Distributed Algorithms. Invited Tutorial at the 8th International Conference on Formal Modeling and Analysis of Timed Systems (FORMATS'10).
Projects
Here are some of my research projects:
The aim of the FATAL project is the development of the foundations of a modeling and analysis framework for fault-tolerant asynchronous VLSI circuits, by combining fault-tolerant distributed algorithms knowledge and experimental assessment of both radiation-induced failures and metastability.
The DARTS project is devoted to asynchronous distributed algorithms for generating a Byzantine fault-tolerant clock in VLSI Systems-on-Chip.
The Theta project is devoted to the development and validation of a partially synchronous system model based upon a bounded ratio of end-to-end delays for fault-tolerant distributed real-time systems.
PSRTS is devoted to the development of a sound scientific basis for fault-tolerant distributed hard real-time systems with relaxed synchrony conditions, by adding a proper real-time systems perspective to the theory of distributed algorithms.
Teaching
My major intention here is to convey some my own enthusiasm about research to my students, and to help them to develop their individual skills as much as possible - which also requires to really challenge them. I also want them to understand that computer science is much more than programming, and that solving challenging research problems requires primarily mathematical/formal and abstraction skills. In fact, I strongly believe that developing such skills is the core (and unrivaled) responsibility of universities and hence the central issue in our curricula.
Besides seminars, I primarily teach the following courses in our Masterstudium "Technische Informatik" (and other master studies):
- Distributed Algorithms
- Real-Time Scheduling
- Problems in Distributed Computing
- Building Reliable Distributed Systems
- Scientific Project
I also teach PhD level courses (sometimes at 
)
I am also interested in didactics (as well as in curriculum design), and have setup a research & development project devoted to such issues:
The SCDL project is devoted to the development of an e-learning framework for university-level undergraduate embedded systems lab courses.
Other responsibilities
I serve in several internal and external commitees and boards. Feel free to contact me in any matter related to the following:
- Coordinator for Bachelor and Master curriculum "Technische Informatik"
- Coordinator for Forschungsschwerpunkt "Technische Informatik"
- Member of Fakultätsrat Informatik
- Member of Studienkommission Informatik
About myself
I am currently full professor and head of the Embedded Computing Systems Group at the Institut für Technische Informatik at TU Vienna. My background is in computer science and mathematics as well as in industrial electronics and embedded systems design. I received several awards and prices, most notably the Austrian START-price, and own the first and, up to now, only venia docendi ("Habilitation") for the whole field of computer science at TU Wien.
Here is my full curriculum vitae:
I am married to Dr. Isolde Schmid-Reiter, who is assistant professor at the Institute of Theatre Research at the University of Vienna and secretary general of the European Academy of Music Theatre. My private interests besides my family are music (playing organ), philosophy, literature, and athletics.
