Course pages 2013–14

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.

Here's some jolly good general advice on How to read a paper by Keshav from Waterloo, plus how to write a great paper and give a great talk about it by Simon Peyton-Jones, from Microsoft.

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 & Marie Cseteb.

Forwarding/Addressing & IPv6 & The Internet Architecture for Oct 10 & 14

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 this recent workshop report on future internet
Essays (to be assigned yet (as of 6.10.13) may make use of this material from the e-book from ACM Sigcomm as well as papers.

Radical Departures from the Internet Architecture - Oct 17 & 21

You will discuss Haggle & I'll talk about Plutarch -- Diana Crisan and my notes

Haggle to contrast with "always on" view that IP takes.
Plutarch for a view of protocol plurality

my take on radical net arches...

Wireless and Mobile for Oct 24 to 28

My take on Connectivity, Mobility and Identifiers and signpost

Wireless capacity

See Gupta/Kumar limit, and Grossgasuer/Tse extend limit via mobility, and Oz/Tse extend limit via hierarchy

Also of interest for tricks with WiFi and radios are: ArrayTrack for really accurate location via MIMO; even gesture recognition via WiFi; and Ambient Backscatter powering of sensor nets.