600.348/448: Theory of Network Communication

Fall Term 2004

Christian Scheideler

Course Structure

Lectures: MTW 1, Shaffer 101

Office Hours

Christian Scheideler: Mon 4-6 pm, Wyman Park 403
Mark Miller: Mon 2-3 pm, NEB 315, or by appointment
Omar Zaidan: Mon 10-11 am, Fri 1-2 pm, Ugrad Lab

Topics

The course covers current state-of-the-art topics in the area of theory of communication in distributed systems. This includes an introduction to various communication models and important routing parameters and networks. Also, strategies for topology control and routing in overlay networks, load balancing strategies, and distributed data management strategies will be presented. Particular emphasis will be on those strategies that support robust and efficient distributed computing over the Internet, and communication and data management in mobile ad hoc networks and peer-to-peer networks. Weekly assignments. Some knowledge of probability theory is helpful. Prerequisite: 600.344/444 or permission. [Analysis] Students receive credit for 600.348 or 600.448, but not both.

Grading

1/3: assignments
1/3: mid-term exam
1/3: software project

Syllabus

The lecture is based on recent research papers. Lecture notes will be posted below.

Sep 7-8: Network models and the E programming language (in postscript and pdf)
Sep 13-16: Network theory (in postscript and pdf)
Sep 20-23: Routing (in postscript and pdf)
Sep 27-30: Scheduling (in postscript and pdf)
Oct 4-6: Hashing (in postscript and pdf)
Oct 11: Fall break
Oct 12-13: Caching (in postscript and pdf)
Oct 19 : Midterm exam
Oct 18, 20: Supervised overlay networks (in postscript and pdf)
Oct 25-27: The continuous-discrete approach (in postscript and pdf)
Nov 1-3: Skip graphs (in postscript and pdf)
Nov 8-10: Group management (in postscript and pdf)
Nov 15-17: Overlay networks for heterogeneous peers (in postscript and pdf)
Nov 22-24: Survivable overlay networks (available on request)
Nov 29-Dec 1: Overlay networks for wireless systems I (in postscript and pdf)
Dec 6: Overlay networks for wireless systems II
Dec 7: Open discussion
Dec 17: Software project due

Assignments

Assignment 1: Try to get familiar with the basics of the E language by looking at www.erights.org and install it on your computer, if possible.
Assignment 2 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 3 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 4 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 5 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 6, due on Nov. 1 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 7, due on Nov. 3 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 8, due on Nov. 10 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 9, due on Nov. 17 (in postscript and pdf)
Assignment 10, due on Nov. 29 (in postscript and pdf)

Assignments will be posted here every Wednesday, and their solutions have to be submitted till the following Wednesday at 1 pm. At most two people are allowed to work together on an assignment, but there has to be a separate submission for each person. Please indicate on your submission with whom you collaborated to solve the assignment (if any). Also, please write your name and the course (348 or 448) for which you registered clearly on your submission. If you have questions about what is allowed and what is not, please read the ethics code of the department or the guide to Academic Ethics for Undergraduates.

Software

We will use the E language. If you are using a Windows operating system, it is recommended to install the Cygwin shell after installing E. When executing "rune" in this shell, the command line interpreter for E is initiated, and when executing "rune name.e", the program name.e is executed. E is also available on the computers in the undergrad and the graduate labs. Here are some examples in E:

Hello world example: hello-server.e and hello-client.e
Solution to problem 8: ping-server.e and pong-client.e
Mesh router: xy-mesh-router.e
Solution to problem 11: hypercube.e
Solution to problem 13: hyper-hash.e
Solution to problem 15: tree_sup.e, tree_peer.e, and tree_peer.readme.txt (thanks to Nilo Rivera)
Solution to problem 17: hyper-ring-test.e and hyper-ring.e

Writing and compiling E programs

E in a Nutshell
E Tutorial
The abstract and slides of Mark's talk on "Promise Pipelining" can be found here.

Christian Scheideler

Last modified: Wed Sep 1, 2004