Inferno(tm) is a networking operating system that provides distributed computing in a client-server environment where resources are made transparently accessible from anywhere in the network. The design of the Inferno system provides an efficient, secure, and reliable computing environment for local area, wide area, and global networks.

Inferno is intended to be used in a variety of emerging network environments, for example in TV set-top boxes attached to cable systems, advanced telephones, hand-held devices, and inexpensive networked computers, but also in conjunction with traditional computing systems.

Inferno's definitive strength lies in its portability and versatility across several dimensions:

• Portability across processors
• Portability across environments
• Distributed design
• Minimal hardware requirements
• Portable applications
• Dynamic adaptability

About the speaker: Ravi Sharma is a Member of Technical Staff on the Inferno Development Team at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ. He has been at Bell Labs since 1990, where he has worked on tool integration protocols in software development environments. He received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1990 where his dissertation research focused on compiler-assisted techniques for memory management and garbage collection in multiprocessor systems.

A pre-meeting dinner with the speaker is held at 6 p.m. at the Rusty Scupper on Alexander Road in Princeton. If you would like to attend, please call the information number to record your reservation on the answering machine.

Princeton ACM / IEEE Computer Society meeting are open to the public. Students and their parents are welcome. There is no admission charge, and refreshments are served after the meeting.