Spring 2009 Unique No. 54440 Classroom: Taylor 3.144 Time: Friday 2 - 4:45 p.m. Instructor: Simon S. Lam Email: lam at cs.utexas.edu Office: Tay 3.112 Hours: Wed 3 - 4:30 p.m.
This class covers topics on network protocol design that are just beyond the scope of a standard textbook on computer networks. The prerequisite for this class is Graduate Standing. (Note that CS 386M is not a prerequisite for this class.) If you have any question regarding this class, please contact me by email.
This class will be run as a seminar class. The topics to be covered are the following:
The emphasis of this class is on network protocol design to address performance, correctness, and security issues. The topics above are covered by papers in a reading list. There are two types of papers in the list: (i) core papers (these are older papers that contain fundamental ideas and results), and (ii) recent papers (these are more recent publications selected because they address interesting new issues).
A student who takes this class for CR/NC will receive CR if he/she (i) attends at least 75% of the classes (excluding the first class) and submits, at the beginning of each class, a one-page review of each paper to be covered in that class (see class schedule), (ii) participates in class discussions, and (iii) satisfactorily completes assigned class presentations, with a copy of powerpoint slides submitted to me via email prior to midnight the evening before his/her class presentation.
A student who takes this class for a letter grade must satisfy the above requirements to receive a passing grade and, additionally, the student is required to write a paper on a research project to be arranged with the instructor.
Your letter grade for the class will be determined by your paper (50%), reviews submitted (20%), class presentations (20%), and discussion participation (10%). A roll call will be taken at the beginning of each class. Note that absence from class will impact your discussion participation grade.
Term paper
You can work individually or in a group (of up to 3 students). You can choose any topic in network protocol design that is relevant to this class. (However, please talk to me first and do so as soon as you can.)
Group discussions and collaborative research are encouraged. But each student must write his/her own term paper with his/her own words and graphics. Note that I will grade your paper individually on your ability to write, articulate ideas, and present arguments and results, as well as your paper formatting style - in addition to the quality of your project's conceptual contributions and results.
Deadlines:
1. March 13, 2009, Friday - One-page choice-of-topic proposal due at the beginning of class.
The proposal should include a title, a concise description of the topic and idea(s) to be explored as well as your methodology, and a list of references. If you work in a group, a single proposal for the group will suffice.
2. May 4, 2009, Monday - Submit a hard copy of your paper in my mailbox in CS department office (Taylor 2.124) by 5 p.m.
Note that your paper should be written only for this class and not be used to satisfy the requirement of another class (past or present). As a rough guideline, the length of your paper should be 10 pages or longer. It is your discretion to determine font size, single- or double-column format, etc. Each student writes and submits his/her own paper.
Submission of your priority list of papers to present via email (due Friday, 1/30/09)