Final Paper - Hot Topics in Networking

Assigned: Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Due: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 before class starts

The main purpose of this assignment is to introduce you to hot topics in networking that we don’t have time to cover during the semester. For CS 555 students, this assignment will also require that you prepare and deliver a class presentation on your topic.

Assignment

You may choose from the following broad topics or suggest your own (to be approved by Dr. Weigle):

You are expected to choose at least two articles that address one of these topics. (The items in the left column correspond to sections in our textbook, so that might be a good place to start.) Each article should be read, understood, and related with concepts discussed in class. In particular, look for articles that describe the real-world impact of the topic.

Your assignment is to write a report in your own words. It is not acceptable to reproduce sentences or paragraphs from the articles (even if you change a word or two in each sentence). In this report, you should summarize what you have learned from the articles. Instead of providing a separate summary for each article that you have read, you should provide a single summary that integrates the concepts of each of the articles in a unified manner. Make sure to give background and describe the topic well enough that your summary of the articles can be understood.

You must provide complete references to all referred articles (including URLs if the articles were found online). In addition to references to your main articles, provide references for any background information that you include and found somewhere other than the main articles.

Format

• Double-spaced, 1-inch margins, 5 pages (CS 455), 7 pages (CS 555)
• 12-point font (either Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman)
• Include section headings and subsection headings. You must include Introduction, Conclusion, References, as well as other appropriate headings.
• Format for References Section:

• Format for Citing Inside the Paper: (Authors’ Last Names, Year)

• Failure to follow the formatting guidelines will result in loss of points.

Resources

The campus library (http://www.lib.odu.edu/researchresources/databases/MandCS/index.htm), Magazines at ACM Digital Library, and the public libraries are good sources for trade journals. I also have a selection of Communications of the ACM, IEEE Spectrum, and IEEE Communications issues in my office. You’re welcome to come by during office hours and take a look at them.

You may use research papers, but I would encourage you to focus most of your reading on trade journals and magazines. At this level, we're interested in how these technologies are actually being (or soon will be) used.

Note that wikipedia is not an acceptable primary resource. You may use it for background information, but it does not count as one of your two required articles.

Suggested Deadlines

• Mar 17 – topic chosen, papers selected (mandatory deadline)
  • Send me an email with the subject “CS 455/555 – topic” to register your paper topic. The email must contain your topic and the citations of the articles you plan to use.
• Mar 24 – outline of paper
• Apr 5 – first draft
• Apr 26 – final version due

Submission

Submit a hard-copy in class on the due date and submit an electronic version on Blackboard.

CS 555

Presentation

In addition to the paper, you must prepare a 15-20 minute lecture-style presentation on your topic. The idea is to teach your fellow students something. Presentations will be held on the following days (order of presenters will be chosen at random, but you should be prepared to present on the first day of presentations):

• Thursday, April 14
• Tuesday, April 19
• Thursday, April 21

Topics

• VoIP - Abishek
• MPLS - Venkatesh
• Intrusion Detection Systems - Tejaswini
• PGP - Jason
• Cloud Computing - John
• WiMAX - Rajesh
• IPSec - Andrew
• Distributed Hash Tables - Wayne

Advice on Giving Presentations

Specific to CS 555

• 15-20 minute time limit
  • no need to rush
• lecture-style
  • goal is to teach your fellow students something

Slides

• First slide should always contain your title, your name, and your affiliation (ODU)
• Have an outline at the beginning and a summary at the end
  • “Tell them what you’ll tell them, then tell them, then tell ‘em what you’ve told them”
• Proof-read your slides
• Check consistency in capitalization and font usage
• Keep slides clean and simple
  • don’t use too many different fonts or colors
  • don’t use distracting backgrounds

Content

• Consider the audience
• What’s the story you want to tell?
  • what do you want the audience to walk away knowing?
• Keep in mind your time limit
  • only use about 80% of the allotted time (save time for questions)
• Don’t get bogged down in the details
• Start with motivation
  • why is this topic important?
• Include helpful figures and illustrations.
  • if you use a figure from another source, give attribution (author, paper title, year).
• Include enough background material that your audience will be able to follow your talk.

Delivery

• Practice! Practice! Practice!
  • get feedback from others
• Having notes may be helpful, but don’t write out the entire talk
• Don’t try to memorize your talk
• Speak clearly and slowly
• Face the audience

More Presentation Tips