Research Interests

My general research interests include computer networks and computer systems performance evaluation. More specific interests include Internet technologies, wireless networks, Internet traffic measurement, TCP/IP, Web performance, mobile computing, high speed networking, workload characterization and modeling, and network simulation.

In general, the Networks Research Group focuses on the design and analysis of networked systems and the communication protocols used within these systems. The types of systems of interest include client-server, peer-to-peer (P2P), multimedia, Internet, Web, wireless, and sensor networks. Research techniques employed include analytic, simulation, and experimental investigations. In many cases, tools are developed to test new algorithms and services, or to capture and analyze network measurement data to better understand existing environments and future ones. Recent projects have included collecting and analyzing Internet traffic from the U of C campus wireless network, classifying Internet traffic by network application, and developing traffic engineering rules for cellular data networks.

From 2001 to 2011, I led a relatively large iCORE (Informatics Circle of Research Excellence) research team of 20-25 members (faculty, staff, and graduate students) focused on the measurement and evaluation of broadband wireless Internet technologies and applications. Examples of our work are available from my research publications page.

From 2010 to 2016, I served as Head for the Department of Computer Science, and thus was not as active as usual in research and graduate student supervision. However, the administrative phase of my career is behind me now, and I am looking forward to working closely with my students again.

I was also fortunate to be part of two recent NSERC Strategic Network Grants. These national collaborative research projects were:

• NSERC ISSNet (Internetworked Systems Security Network) focused on Internet security. This project, led by Professor Paul van Oorschot at Carleton University, ran from 2008-2013.
• NSERC SAVI (Smart Applications on Virtual Infrastructure) focused on the use of virtualization in network technologies and applications. This project, led by Professor Alberto Leon-Garcia at the University of Toronto, ran from 2011-2016.

If you are a prospective student reading this, and hoping to work with me, please realize that I can take only 2-3 students each year, from over a hundred prospective applicants, so your chances of admission are very slim. I look for students with high GPAs, strong systems/programming skills, good networking experience, a solid mathematical background, and good English writing skills. The best way to get rejected is to send poorly worded emails, repeated queries, or large email attachments, including transcripts and Microsoft Word.

Note that I retired from the University of Calgary on June 30, 2022, and thus am no longer accepting any new graduate students.