Instructor: Balajee Vamanan
Lecture hours: TR 12:30–1:45 PM at Taft Hall 207
Office hours: WF 2–3 PM at SEO 1310
Textbook: Lecture notes and papers
Networks are critical for diverse computing environments, from power-constrained IoT devices to compute-intensive datacenters. Various aspects of networking (e.g., topology, routing, congestion control) are carefully designed to match computational needs of the underlying applications to the platforms’ constraints (e.g., energy, cost). While battery-operated bluetooth devices employ simpler protocols in ad-hoc mesh networks to enable monitoring and sensing, datacenters require sophisticated transport protocols in bandwidth-intensive clos networks that provide near-optimal bisection bandwidth to process vast amounts of data (e.g., Web Search). Therefore, it is fascinating to compare and contrast design choices across the spectrum from minimal ad-hoc networks and Internet to more powerful datacenters and Interconnection networks.
The course builds on top of our existing networking course, “CS450: Introduction to Networking“ and focuses on the finer aspects of network design. While CS450 introduces the design of Internet, this course would enable students to question Internet’s design by understanding the design choices of other networks’ (e.g., datacenters, Interconnection networks, IoT networks). It is intended for students who wish to pursue research in systems (networking, distributed systems, or architecture).
This is a tentative list of sub-topics that I plan to cover:
The class would involve around three things:
Lectures: Lectures will provide context for each topic and set the tone for paper discussions.
Paper presentations: Paper discussions will follow lectures on every topic. We will discuss a handful of influential papers per topic. Every student will present one or more papers, depending on the class size. I will provide a list of papers and allow students to pick papers of their interest across topics on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Project: Project would allow students to collaborate and explore a research problem. I will schedule meetings with each project group to help them choose a problem of appropriate scope. There will be a mid-term status review (for any necessary course correction), a final presentation, and a project report.
CS450 or equivalent is required. If you have not done CS450 or equivalent, instructor consent is required.
These are the weights of the individual components.
| Component | Weightage |
| Class participation | 5% |
| Paper Critiques | 30% |
| Paper presentation | 30% |
| Project | 35% |
Participation is incredibly important!
Expectional participation includes but not limited to
Bonus 5% for exceptional participation at the dicretion of instructor. This extra credit will be highly selective (i.e., one or two exceptional students get it).
Each student is expected to present one or more papers in class. Here are the guidelines to be followed:
I will provide a tentative list and direction but you can pick your own problem as well. You will have to submit a one page proposal before starting the project. The project is expected to go for two months. In the end, you will present your findings as well as submit a six page report (two column – paper style).
Discussion with your peers is encouraged. However, copying their arguments, criticisms, and code is plagiarism. If you don’t understand the arguments or don’t know how the code that you implemented for an assignment works, then it’s a problem. To be safe, please cite your your sources in all your turn-ins. When in doubt, please ask the instructor.