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A Semantic Foundation for Persistent Programming

Project description

Mathematics to facilitate persistent programming

Non-volatile memory (NVM) is an emerging technology that provides computer memory capacity to retain stored data even after power is removed. However, this storage managing technology presents some limitations. The persistency semantics of the ordinary architectures remains unclear and full of counterintuitive behaviours causing severe difficulties in writing correct NVM programmes. In this context, the EU-funded PERSIST project will develop a solid mathematical basis to determine the possible results of persistent programmes. The project will develop formal empirically validated persistency models for mainstream hardware architectures and formal efficient persistency models for mainstream programming languages. PERSIST will also generate firmly grounded higher-level abstractions to facilitate persistent programming and effective testing and verification techniques for persistent programmes.

Objective

Non-volatile memory (NVM) is an emerging technology that provides orders of magnitude faster access to persistent storage (which preserves its contents after a crash or a power failure) than hard disks. While NVM is expected to radically change how we manage storage in applications, its programming model is standing on very shaky foundations.

The persistency semantics of the mainstream architectures is very unclear and full of counterintuitive behaviours. As a result, writing correct NVM programs is extremely difficult: there is no support for persistent programming in programming languages nor any techniques for testing and verifying their correct recovery from crashes.

PERSIST will develop a solid mathematical basis for determining the possible outcomes of persistent programs and reasoning about their correctness. More specifically, it will produce:

(1) formal empirically-validated persistency models for mainstream hardware architectures,

(2) formal efficient persistency models for mainstream programming languages,

(3) firmly-grounded higher-level abstractions to ease persistent programming, and

(4) the first effective testing and verification techniques for persistent programs.

Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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ERC-COG - Consolidator Grant

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) ERC-2020-COG

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Host institution

MAX-PLANCK-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER WISSENSCHAFTEN EV
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 999 300,00
Address
HOFGARTENSTRASSE 8
80539 Munchen
Germany

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Region
Bayern Oberbayern München, Kreisfreie Stadt
Activity type
Research Organisations
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 999 300,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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