CS276: Fall '07

Advanced Topics in Networking 

News

  • Tuesday is last day of classes, no class Thur
  • Note the location change to CS Conf Room for final presentations.
  • Homework 2 available.
  • Homework 1 available.
  • All lecture notes will now be posted to the GoogleGroup instead of the course website. Make sure you have an account.
  • Webpage going online, lecture topics/papers still tentative

General Information

    When and Where: Tues/Thur, 9:00--10:50AM, Phelps 1401
    Professor: Ben Zhao, ravenben at cs.ucsb.edu
    TA: Vinod Kone
    Office Hours:
    • Ben: Thurdays, 11AM-Noon
    • Vinod: Wednesdays, 2-4pm, Phelps 1413

    Class Email List: CS276 Google Group
    Prerequisites: Solid background in networking (CS176A+B or equivalent).

Introduction

This course will focus on studying the state of the art in networking and networked systems. We will cover a variety of topics from routing protocols to Internet stability and peer-to-peer networking. Each topic will provide background on traditional perspectives, with updates from current and ongoing research. The expectation is that everyone has a solid background on networking basics. Discussions of background material from a textbook will be complemented by those of current publications. Students will learn tools, techniques, and concepts while learning to carry out original research in a course project, with the end goal of producing real, publishable results by the end of the quarter. In addition, students are expected to gain experience in two valuable skills: quickly reading technical papers (without sacrificing understanding), and giving public presentations.

Textbooks
The majority of reading material for this course will come in the form of research papers. There is no required textbook, but there are several useful texts (optional) that you can use as background material to help you better understand the papers.

  • Kurose and Ross, Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet, 3rd edition.
  • Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, 3rd edition.
  • Peterson and Davie, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, 2nd edition.

Class Participation
Each student is highly encouraged to read all of the relevant papers before attending class. There are no paper reviews due, unlike my previous grad courses. At the beginning of each lecture, we will randomly choose a member of the class to give a very brief 5 minute discussion of the papers, their salient points, and the most useful take-aways from each paper. While there is no specific grade assigned to the presentation, it serves as practice in public speaking, and should motivate you to pay attention to the readings.

Grading Policy

Your quarter grade will be derived from homework assignments, a midterm exam, and a class project: