The goal of the course project is to have you further explore models
and/or methods of database and information systems, ideally in the
context of your research interests. This can be done in
many ways. The project topic is of your choosing, but must be
approved in advance by the course instructor. Projects
must be done individually or in pairs.
Getting a project idea.
Ideally, your own research will generate a project idea. Other
places to look include recent proceedings of the major data
management conferences. Several such conferences are listed
below. You will see that even for "database conferences", the
presentations are not limited to papers on classic databases and
their issues.
For examples that say "examine" or
"explore", the project should include an algorithm or protocol
implementation and evaluation, a simulation and evaluation or a
theoretical analysis, which may be a substantial comparative analysis.
Examine the state of the art for one of the tasks of a
database system. Some possibilities:
query optimization algorithms for relational queries (or SQL
in particular).
indexing structures for very large data bases
transaction management for highly distributed database
systems
Examine the state of the art and research issues for cluster
architectures for large database or information retrieval
systems, including issues such as
workload distribution
memory management
Implement an application that requires database support with
unusual requirements that add some complexity to either the
conceptual model for the database or the implementation.
The unusual requirements may be in functionality, constraint
maintenance, reliability or user interface. Implement the
user interface, the application interface to the database and
the database. The user interface may be minimalist if the focus
of the project is elsewhere. The application should be
something in which you are interested and for which you can
obtain or generate a reasonable set of interactions and data for
testing. The database may use the relationa model, a
"noSQL"model, an XML-based model or use some other model as long
as it is not purely file access.
Database techniques and systems exist for special kinds of
data, for example spatial (geometric) data and streaming
data. There are also customized information retrieval
techniques for special kinds of data, for example music and
images. Your project may focus on techniques for a special
kind of data. (Are you generating special data in your
research?).
Explore methods for insuring privacy in database or
information systems. Limit yourself to a certain kind of
system and one or two aspects of privacy: e.g. allowing
various levels of privacy to users of a database or methods of
protecting information while reporting aggregate or summary
information.
Sample projects from 2008 and 2011:
A relational database for peer-to-peer traffic monitoring
"Scapegoat trees" in external memory
Olfactory
Receptor Gene and Motif Database: Data mining classification,
and motif detection
An
information system for managing and recommending
scientific articles
Extend persistent service of
Sirikata 3D Metaverses
Platform [virtual worlds] with Cassandra distributed
database
Game
databases
Cloud
Resident data center: database
approach
An exploration of
database index structures to support visualizations with
sliders
Social
graph info. storage and “Close Friend” identification for Facebook-based people
recommendation web-app
Shortest-path
queries
in graph databases
Requirements
Each individual or pair must:
1. By5pm
on Friday, Oct. 25, 2013send email to
Professor LaPaugh containing a one-paragraph description of your
project.
2. Between Dec. 2 and
Dec. 4, 2013meet with Professor LaPaugh
for 15-20 minutes to discuss project progress and issues.
3. Submit by 5pm Tues. Jan 14, 2014(Dean's
date) a report that describes your project. This must include the
goals of the project, your methodology and the results. If it
is an application implementation, you need to describe the
application, your design requirements, the major implementation
decisions, and your assessment of the result. If it is an
experimental algorithm study, you need to describe what was
implemented, the major implementation decisions, how you designed
the experiments, and the experimental results. If it is a
system simulation study, you need to describe the simulation model,
how was implemented, how you designed the experiments, and the
experimental results. If it is a theoretical study, you need
to describe the problem, review what was known about the problem
before your analysis, and give the details and the results of your
theoretical analysis. For any project that involves
programming, all source code you write should be in an appendix or
made accessible on the Web (Web preferred). Reports are
typically
15 pages double-spaced excluding code and large figures.
4. After
the project report is submitted andbefore 5pm Mon.
Jan. 20, 2014 each student or pair must meet with Professor
LaPaugh for a project demonstration (where applicable) and
discussion.
Projects will be graded on thoroughness and depth of analysis.
Difficulty will be taken into consideration. Keep in mind that
evaluation is an important part of any project. Be clear on the
goals of your project and how you demonstrate or measure
success.
A.S. LaPaugh Tue Oct 8 14:58:59 EDT 2013
