The purpose of this course is to provide an overview of current networking research topics. Topics covered will include the current Internet, the future Internet, wireless networks, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) networks, TCP/IP, Internet traffic measurement, Web server performance, peer-to-peer networking, and computer systems performance evaluation. Throughout the course, emphasis will be placed on topics and issues relevant to network performance and performance evaluation, especially in the context of next-generation Internet networks.
The course will be primarily lecture-format, though class participation and discussion are also necessary to ensure your success in the course. A significant course project is expected from each student by the end of the semester.
Professor: Carey Williamson
My office is in ICT 740 in the Department of Computer Science,
University of Calgary.
My office phone number is (403) 220-6780, my fax number is (403) 284-4707,
and my email address is carey@cpsc.ucalgary.ca.
Email is the most reliable way to get in touch with me, day or night.
I plan to have scheduled
office hours for this course on Tuesday afternoons right after class,
from 2:00pm-3:00pm.
I have an "open door" policy as well,
making other meeting times possible, either by chance or by appointment.
Lectures for this course are scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays, from 12:30pm to 1:45pm. The current location indicated is now ST 64 (Science Theatres, basement room).
The first class meeting is TUESDAY JANUARY 14, at which we will discuss the course overview, topics to be covered, plus plans and expectations for the semester. The first full lecture is on Thursday January 16.
None. There is no required text book for this course.
The primary reading material for this course will be drawn from current research papers in the networking field. These will be provided to you, in advance, at the time they are needed, either in hardcopy or electronic form. Some lecture materials, course information, and relevant bibliography is available via the World Wide Web (WWW).
A senior undergraduate course in computer networking, such as CPSC 441 (Computer Communications) at the University of Calgary or CMPT 424 (Computer Network Technologies and Analysis) from the University of Saskatchewan. Some knowledge of computer systems performance evaluation methodology (e.g., simulation, experimental, or analytical approaches) would be an asset, but is not required. A background in telecommunications networking would be useful as well, but is not crucial to success in the course. If you have any doubts about the adequacy of your background for this course, please see the instructor during the first week of lectures.
There will be two assignments during the first 6 weeks of the term. These assignments will each account for 15% of your mark in the course. The assignments will involve network traffic analysis and network simulations. The purpose of the first assignment is to gain familiarity with data analysis, graphical presentation, and interpretation of results. The purpose of the second assignment is to gain experience with experimental design and simulation methodology.
There is a course project required by the end of the term. The project should be a research paper dealing with some relevant network performance issue. The paper should present your (hopefully original) results from independently carrying out a network performance experiment of your own choosing. Further details on the project requirements are available. The project will account for 50% of your marks in the course. Finally, there will be an in-class presentation required from each student, towards the end of the semester. This will not be a presentation of your own project work (since it may not be done by then!), but rather a presentation of a research paper chosen from the networking literature. Each student is responsible for presenting one paper, and leading discussion regarding that paper. This in-class presentation will account for 20% of your marks.
Final grades will be determined as follows:
Assignments: 30%
Class presentation: 20%
Project: 50%
This is a tentative outline of topics for the course. The actual timetable for topics is subject to change, based on student demand and time available.
1. Introduction and Overview. Review of the Internet, its architecture, and its protocols. TCP/IP protocol stack. Internet growth and evolution. Optical Internets. Broadband wireless networks. Internet applications and performance. (1 week)
2. Computer System Performance Evaluation. Experimental methodology. Experimental approaches. Simulation approaches. Analytical approaches. Experimental design. Performance metrics. Examples of network performance experiments. Data analysis and presentation tools. Network simulation tools. (1 week)
3. Wireless Internet Technologies. Wireless LANs. Channel access protocols. IEEE 802.11b and its variants. Wireless TCP performance. Ad hoc networking. (1.5 weeks)
4. Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM). What ATM is. What ATM isn't. ATM cell formats. ATM switching. ATM terminology: VPI, VCI, SVC, and PVC. Implications of ATM. (1 week)
5. Switching. Fast packet-switching. Basic functionality. Switch fabrics. Buffer management. Shared memory switches. Shared medium switches. Space division switches. (1 week)
6. Traffic Management and Control. Cell-level vs call-level controls. Reactive and preventive schemes. Call Admission Control (CAC). ABR flow control. TCP congestion control. Rate-based schemes. Fairness. Quality of Service. (1 week)
7. Network Measurement. Internet traffic measurement. Measurement tools. TCP/IP measurements. LAN measurements. WAN measurements. Self-similar traffic. Heavy-tailed distributions. Multi-fractal traffic. Workload characterization. Traffic modeling. Wavelets. (2 weeks)
8. Web Performance. Web servers. Workload characterization. Web proxies. Document caching strategies. Web proxy caching architectures. Web server implementation issues. Wireless Web performance. (1 week)
9. The Next Generation Internet. Selected topics of interest. Peer-to-peer networking. Technology trends. Optical Internets. DWDM. Mobile computing. Media streaming. Multicast. IPv6. IP-QOS. DiffServ. IntServ. IPsec. CATNIP TCP. (1 week)
10. Current Networking Research. Literature scan. Student presentations of selected papers from the recent networking research literature (SIGCOMM, INFOCOM, MOBICOM, SIGMETRICS, MASCOTS). In-class discussions. (2 weeks)