Computer Laboratory

Course pages 2016–17

Network Architectures

This course is mainly based around reading papers and learning how to find the positive and negative (in that order) in those papers. There is a preliminary schedule of when you will be speaking, and link to papers you'll be talking about.

Student's speaking assignments are to give a 20-25 minute prepared talk on the paper. I am very happy to discuss paper assignments and talks beforehand. Advice on critical reading/reviewig, writing, presenting a paper is offered in the Research Skills Programme

We'll go through these topics at roughly one per week. There are also guest lectures from experts on their topics.

One thing I'd like readers to bear in mind is that one can take an evolutionary approach to network architecture change, or one can try to be revolutionary. In discussing a given paper, try to see which approach it is taking and whether this supports or undermines the viability of the proposed idea - this notion originated with Constantine Dovrolis and Jenifer Rexford in this nice counterpoint discussion. An important evolutionary refinement is Punctuated Equilibrium: which may be how technology (including networks) evolve really.

A very interesting complex systems/systems bio/eco/evolutionary view on how layered architectures evolve is this paper on Architecture, constraints, and behavior by John C. Doyle and Marie Cseteb.

Forwarding/Addressing & IPv6 & The Internet Architecture for Oct 11 & 13

  • Course Introduction and Lecture 1
  • The Internet Vanilla Architecture 2

    This paper by Dave Clark of MIT is the starting point for all network architecture papers in form and content: The Design Philosophy of the DARPA Internet Protocols See also:

  • The Simple Internet Protocol (SIP)
  • Paul's Internet Protocol
  • recent workshop report on future internet

    Radical Alternatives to The Internet Architecture Oct 18

  • All students to prepare a 7 minute talk with 7 bullet points about the two papers, on Haggle and Plutarch here

    Background for Essay 1 for Oct 31

    See Essay 1

    Wirelesss and Mobile- Oct 20/Oct 25 Lecture & Talk

  • Connectivity, Mobility and Identifiers : Jon- Background:-

  • And one of you (mac214) will tackle this paper on fingerprinting Mobile Virtual Operators: Mobile Operator fingerprinting

    Topology - to Oct 27/Nov 1 Lecture & Talk

  • I will talk about CCN/NDN and related new architecture work in the N4D lab in cambridge.
  • One of you (nd359) will cover Alibi Routing

    Background for Essay 2 for Nov 28

    See Essay 2

    Transport/End-to-End -- Nov 3/Nov 8

  • I will cover Multipath resource pooling, MPTCP and Coding or Network Coding, MPTCP, Mobile
  • Then one of you (wgps3) can cover Transport Services shims: QUIC and SPDY

    Data Centers Nov 10/Nov 15

  • I will cover Qjump
  • Then one of you (mac214) can cover Microsoft Azure, (see also azure h/w acceleration & pingmesh), versus Facebook and Google

    Cascades and Cross Layer Nov 17/Nov 22

  • I'll cover buzz traq
  • Then one of you (nd359) can cover Social Cascades

    IoT & IPv6 Nov 24/29

  • I will cover the Akamai IMC 2015 IPv6 paper
  • Then one of you (wgps359) can IoT gap analysis

    Background for Essay 3 for Jan 20, 2016

    See Essay 3

    Wrapup tue Dec 1

    What is Network Architecture?

    There's now a suitable (draft) book for this course, from MIT

    The Management reserve the right...

    Please advise if you find any missing or incorrect links here to me
    Last year’s course materials are still available.