Instructor: Professor Joseph Camp
Email: "camp" AT "smu.edu"
Phone: 214-768-8541 Fax: 214-768-3573
Office location: 340 Junkins Building, SMU campus
Office hours: Mon./Wed. 9-10:30am or by appointment

Time/Place: 3:30-4:50 Tuesdays and Thursdays, Caruth 161

Course Description: Probabilistic modeling and evaluation techniques to understanding the behavior of traffic, switching, and protocols for wired and wireless networks. Topics include traffic models, multiplexing, scheduling, routing, and congestion control, in the context of protocols such as CSMA and TCP/IP.

Background: Probability, random processes, and some knowledge of networks. EE 5376/7376 or CSE 8344 recommended.

Assignments

Grading

40% Lab assignments (5)
45% exams (2)
15% presentation, paper reviews, and class participation

You may discuss lab assignments with classmates but all solutions must be original and individually prepared. Late lab work will be penalized at 15% of its full credit per day up to a maximum of 4 days, after which no late work will be accepted.

Both exams must be completed independently. The SMU Honor Code will be strictly enforced.

There will be three papers that are read outside of class (see Assignments). On each paper, all students are required to submit one paragraph summarizing the paper and one paragraph analyzing the work. Guides for how to read papers can be found here and here. Each paper will be assigned 2 teams of presenters who will each prepare a 15-minute talk. The first team will highlight the strengths of the work, summarizing the main contributions, including a problem statement, overview of key results, and differentiation from prior work. The second team will assess the shortcomings of the work, room for future work, and/or work that has been done since the paper was written. Each presentation should draw upon a critical analysis of the paper, i.e., your assessment of the strength of the contribution, the work's current or potential impact, your assessment of the evaluation methodology, etc. Presenters turn in their slides in place of the one-page summary.

Required Textbook: A. Kumar, D. Manjunath, and J. Kuri, Communication Networking: An Analytical Approach. Elsevier, 2004.

Topics

Medium access in wireless networks including IEEE 802.11
Scheduling and fairness including max-min-fair and maximal scheduling
Congestion control including network utility maximization and TCP
Modulation Rate Adaptation
Routing including Dijkstra and Bellman-Ford algorithms

Religious Observance: Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify their professors in writing at the beginning of the semester, and should discuss with them, in advance, acceptable ways of making up any work missed because of the absence. (See University Policy No. 1.9.)

Excused Absences for University Extracurricular Activities: Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity should be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result of their participation. It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor prior to any missed scheduled examination or other missed assignment for making up the work. (University Undergraduate Catalogue)

Students enrolled in EE 8378 will be evaluated on the following SACS Learning Outcomes:
I - An ability to use the techniques, skills, and modern engineering tools necessary for engineering practice
II - Ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering
III - Ability to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems
IV - Ability to communicate effectively