Due Date: ----------

Project 3 Description - Computer Communication Networks

Information and answers to questions of general interest about project 3 for the Fall 2007 semester of CSI 516 are contained here.

• Contributed ns-2 code that you might want to use or learn from can be found here.
• Some Useful Links:
  • The ns simulator
  • Mark Gries Tutorial

• Sources of research papers:
  • IEEE Journals
  • Although the IETF is more standards-focused than research, you might be interested to discuss a protocol from the IETF Standards.
  • Going outside these sources to find something more novel will earn extra credit.

• Quick thoughts on research topics ... (do not limit yourself to this list, these are some spontanteous thoughts)
  • Energy minimization, particularly in mobile and sensor networks: what requires the most energy? Can that energy be reduced? Can protocol overhead be reduced? Can sensors be turned off and scheduled to turn on only when needed to relay/forward a message? Can they work TOGETHER to transmit more efficiently somehow? (be creative and think of a new idea to test-- it doesn't have to work; showing how and why it fails is perfectly fine) (Suggested reading: Pulse Coupled Oscillation.)
  • Mobility: can user motion be predicted in order improve routing and/or call setup? Many people have already looked at this, but there may still be room for a creative new idea. (Suggested reading: Limits of Motion Prediction.)
  • Active Networking: what if packets are executable inside the network as they travel through the network? What could they do to improve the network, perhaps working together in some manner? Look up "active networking" to find more about this. (Suggested reading: NIST load prediction.) (Suggested reading: Kolmogorov Complexity and active nets.)
  • Multicasting: single sender to many sources, what if some sources are blocked, how should the sender/network best handle this situation. Could better FEC help? Lookup "multicast and NORM" to find more about this. (Suggested reading: Enhancing Reliable Multicast.)
  • Network Coding: can data be sent along multiple links or paths at the same time in order to improve error detection and correction? Lookup "network coding" and you will see lots on this recent hot topic.
  • Molecular Communications which uses the same concepts we are learning, but trying to harness more natural mechanisms to accomplish it, look here. (Suggested reading: Nano-Communications: A New Field?.)
  • Network Security (perhaps using biologically-inspired techniques). For example, computer viruses spread like human viruses. Can you simulate that? How do you most efficiently detect and stop a virus? How can you determine how vulnerable a network is to a virus (or many other types of attack)? How would a virus spread in a mobile computer network versus fixed network? (Suggested reading: .) Is there a relationship between the entropy (as we discussed in class) of data and the entropy of a virus? Can this be used for detection? (Suggested reading: Kolomogorov Complexity for Virus Detection.)
  • Peer-to-peer Networking: (Look here).
  • Network Management: Can networks be constructed that have improved management capabaility, i.e. "self-managing"? Self-healing? Look here for background info. (Suggested reading: An Active Model-Based Prototype for Predictive Network Management.)
  The ns network simulator has a lot of pre-existing code that you can use for experimenting with these ideas. Consider writing a publication quality paper on your results.