Princeton University Computer Science Department

Computer Science 598A AdTopCS: Internet Routing Jennifer Rexford

Spring 2005

General

Instructor:	Jennifer Rexford - 306 CS Building, 258-5182
	Office hours by appointment
Class times:	Tuesdays/Thursdays 11:00am-12:20pm, Room 102 CS Building
	Lecture/reading schedule
Graduate Coordinator:	Melissa Lawson - 310 CS Building, 258-5387

Prerequisite

COS 461 or equivalent exposure to network protocols

Overview

Routing protocols are the glue that hold the disparate parts of the Internet together. The course will cover: Border Gateway Protocol, intradomain routing, network topology, protocol convergence, traffic engineering, scalability techniques, measurement, troubleshooting, security, and new routing architectures. The course will be a mix of lectures and seminar-style discussions of state-of-the-art research papers, culminating in a final project or paper. ELE and COS graduate students and advanced undergraduates are welcome.

Goals

The objective of this course is to expose the students to state-of-the-art research in Internet routing, with an emphasis on how routing protocols are used, debugged, managed, and optimized in running a network, such as a service provider backbone or an enterprise network. Through reading and critique of published papers in this area, the students will learn how to define and formulate a research problem, choose a specific approach to the solution, and complete a research project, including a written report and oral presentation.

Course structure:

The class will consist of a mixture of lectures and discussions on the papers in the reading list. Students will be expected to participate actively in the class, especially during discussion of the reading assignments. Please refer to the tentative lecture schedule for the course syllabus.

Grading

• Paper reviews: For paper reviews, you are required to provide a short summary (one or two paragraphs) and a review of the strengths and weaknesses of the paper, and avenues for future work. The goal of these reviews is to help you synthesize the main ideas and concepts presented in each paper.

• Project: Students work individually or in small groups on a course project. The projects will complement and extend the lecture material. The project may include design, modeling, measurement, or simulation of a problem related to Internet routing, or a literature survey. The students are expected to discuss possible research projects with the instructor to identify an interesting and challenging problems. One-page proposal for the project due on Thursday March 24. Written report due May 10, with oral presentation for the class during special class sessions during exam period. (To make room for these classes, we will have two days during the semester where class does not meet to allow time to work on course projects.)

Recommended books (none required):