Institute for Distributed and Cognitive Systems

Non-profit R&D studying cognition in distributed systems through games. We develop hardware, wetware, software, and multi-agent runtimes for cognitive tasks.

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Research Facilities

Laboratories

UBIDECO Labs

Laboratories for ubiquitous deterministic computing

Creating VMs, computer languages and compilers for portable and distributed deterministic computing using applied category theory.

LNP/BP Labs

Lightning network protocol and bitcoin protocol laboratories

Studying and enhancing Bitcoin-related protocols - the most adversary-resistant distributed computing environments with embedded economic games.

Cyphernet Labs

Laboratories for cryptographically-protected distributed computing

Developing cryptographic solutions for multi-agent systems operating in adversarial environments.

BICA Labs

Laboratories for biologically-inspired cognitive architectures

Applying neuroscience and neurophysiology for modelling and developing artificial cognitive systems with recurrent and spike architectures.

TIAMAT Labs

Laboratories for transcendent intelligent automata

Experimental studies for the use of neural tissue (organoids and cultured slices) for reservoir computing having native recurrent neural architecture.

AlgoCV Labs

Laboratories for algorithmic computer vision

Computer vision and pattern recognition solutions not based on artificial neural networks, utilizing instead explicit algorithmic energy-efficient approaches.

Our Publications

Publishing

Additionally to academic research, institute publishes open standards and open access journal.

LNP/BP Standards

Open standards for Bitcoin and Lightning protocols

Standards & best practices for distributed protocols utilizing bitcoin blockchain, lightning network, state channels and related technologies, in cases when they do not require changes to bitcoin consensus level.

Adaptive and Adversary-resistant Distributed Computing

Biannual peer-reviewed OpenAccess journal

Publishes original research in the field of distributed and decentralized adversary-resistant multi-agent systems.

Ongoing Research

Current research

Active research projects from the Institute laboratories.

PRISM

Partially-replicated state machines

Client-side validation is a new approach in the field of distributed computing, when the data are not fully replicated across all the nodes of a network but selectively propagate in peer-to-peer mode basing on ownership properties.

PRIME

Consensus proof-of-publication layer for client-side validation

Blockchain-less consensus solution for client-side validating systems, which utilizes zero-knowledge to achieve constant size of the consensus global state and O(1) scalability.

PROMETHEUS

Scalable computational integrity through game theoretical model for verification and arbitration

This work addresses the problem of computational integrity proofs (correctness of the actual computations) made by some non-trusted (anonymous) third party without repeating the whole volume of the actual computing.

NUCLEUS

Multi-party state channels

A new form of Lightning channels which can be created and run by multiple participants in scalable and byzantine-fault tolerant manner. This significantly increases capital efficiency, improves liveness and doesn’t require the creation or participation in an atomic swap routing network.

ASCO-SRNN

Abstraction and symbolic computing with spiking recurrent neural networks

Computer modelling of recurrent spiking architectures, such as Hopfield and Grossman networks, used for abstraction and symbol computing.

ASCO-BTOS

Abstraction and symbolic computing using brain tissue organoids and slices

Hippocampus and prefrontal cortex slices fused to mimic the properties of symbolic computing discovered in computer models.

Technological Solutions

Software projects

As a results of our research activities we have developed a number of software products, all of which are licensed under free software licenses.

AluVM

Algorithmic logic unit VM and runtime

Pure functional RISC virtual machine, assembler and runtime designed for deterministic portable computing tasks.

Strict Types

Portable & deterministic formalism for algebraic data types

Strict types is a formal semantic and notation system for encoding algebraic data types in a portable & deterministic way.

Vesper

Declarative data interchange language and format

Portable human- and machine readable language for structural data, designed to be a better XML and JSON alternative.

Cation

Categorical programming language

Pure functional language for practical programming made with category theory.

Contractum

Smart contract programming language

Functional declarative programming language for RGB smart contracts, based on Cation.

IPAS libraries

Image processing and analysis system

C libraries for fast image processing for pattern recognition tasks.

RGB Protocol

Client-side validated smart contracts

Researching and implementing smart-contracting systems based on Bitcoin that bring privacy, scalability and security to it as a commitment and consensus layer.

BP Stack

Bitcoin protocol libraries and software

Studying and enhancing Bitcoin-related protocols - the most adversary-resistant distributed computing environments with embedded economic games.

LNP Stack

Lightning network protocol libraries and software

Exploring and enhancing Lightning Network anatomy and ways to improve the architecture of the Network by bringing in new types of channels, nodes and interaction models.

Cyphernet architecture

Privacy-preserving networking

Set of network protocols and microservice helper libraries utilizing CA-less decentralized cryptography (Noise framework...)

SSI

Self-sovereign identity

Modern Web of Trust solution for self-sovereign serverless identities usable in multi-agent decentralized environments.

Nox

Distributed private messaging

Protocol and software suite for secure private messaging and file sharing applicable for adversarial multi-agent environments.

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Institute for
Distributed and
Cognitive Systems.

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