CS294-8 Spring 2000
Design Topics in Deeply Networked Systems
"Communications to the eXtremes"

Professors David Culler and Randy Katz
3 units

Versions of this page: David's - Randy's

Course Description

The spectrum of computational and information devices is expanding dramatically. The most exciting design challenges lie at the extremes. A vast array of tiny networked devices, embedded servers, planetary-scale services, smart spaces, high-bandwidth pipes, and low-power wireless networks are emerging, augmenting the traditional core of desktop/laptop clients, machine room servers, and the wired web. These technological opportunities are motivating several expeditions into the future of information technology. While there is much discussion about technologies and the applications they enable, little is understood about the necessary globe-spanning architectures needed to make this a success.

This project-intensive research seminar will explore a series of non-traditional systems areas that are critical to deeply networked systems of extreme devices: the small, the large, and the numerous.  It will be a hands-on project-oriented course, with scheduled speakers, substantial readings, and in-depth discussions. It will meet twice a week. The Monday meeting (2:30-4:00 PM, 373 Soda) will involve lecture presentations, discussions of readings, and project brainstorming. The Thursday meeting will follow the Systems Seminar (CS298-1, 3:30-4:30, 306 Soda Hall) and will often involve in-depth discussions with the weekly speaker (4:30-5:30, 373 Soda Hall) or further explorations of the topics at hand.

Topics include: tiny connected devices and operating systems, wearables, embedded servers, low-power networks, sustainable power harversting, sensor networks, tiny IP stacks, directed diffusion, address-free routing, global coordination through local actions, scalable discovery, smart spaces, vehicles and buildings, negotiation architectures, self-assembly, service composition, mobility, and scalable services. We have organized the formal class meetings alternating the themes of technology, applications, and architecture.

Class Meeting Times

Monday 2:30 - 4:00 in 373 Soda (except the first meeting Monday, January 24 will be 2:30 - 3:30 in 405 Soda)
Thursday 4:30 - 5:30 in 373 Soda.    (Note change in time!)

Systems Seminar (CS298-1) Spring 2000 (Thursdays 3:30-4:30, 306 Soda)

Grading

Course Knowledge Web

A major element of the course will be the group development of a Web-based repository of information about deeply networked systems. See Assignment #2 and Assignment #3. Here is the initial Knowledge Web bootstrap.

Assignment1 Results
Assignment2 Results
Assignment3 Results


Evolving Course Schedule


17 January 2000

Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday, University Holiday

20 January 2000

No class meeting


24 January 2000

Course Introduction: Communications to the eXtreme (pdf)

27 January 2000

Assignment #1: Signing on to the Expedition  => Students Vision

Readings:


31 January 2000

Guest Lecture/Discussion: Professor Kris Pister on Dust Mote Technology

3 February 2000

Embedded Systems/Discussion with JAVA Car Designer

Readings:


7 February 2000  Applications Discussion: General Theme is "Smart Spaces"

10 February 2000

Assignment #2: Research Safari on EECS 2000 Conference => Results

Readings:


14 February 2000

Architecture Discussion: Service Discovery

17 February 2000

Sensor Networks/Discussion with Prof. Deborah Estrin, USC-ISI

Readings:



21 February 2000

President's Day Holiday

24 February 2000

Smart Media Spaces, Lynn Wilcox, FxPal Xerox Parc

Assignment #3: Expanding the Knowledge Web in Deeply Networked Systems (Due 23 March)


28 February 2000

Technology: Location-/Power-Awareness

Reading Assignments


2 March 2000 - Taming the Internet Service Construction Beast: Persistent, Cluster-based Distributed Data Structures, Steve Gribble (U.C. Berkeley)


6 March 2000 Scalable Internet Architectures

Readings for class discussion

9 March 2000  Pervasive Computing/Discussion with Dr. Bill Mark, SRI

10 March 3-5 Project Brainstorm 6th floor Soda Hall


13 March 2000 Sensor-driven Databases (Prof. Joe Hellerstein)

Adaptive global query engine

Encapsulation of Parallelism in Volcano
Eddies:  (This year's 262 students have read both papers already)

Reordering streams,

15-17 March Computing Continuum Conference, March 15-17 - http://intel.com/intel/cccon/

16 March 2000 (No seimar)

17 March 3:00-5:00 Project Brainstorm 6th floor Soda Hall

20 March 2000 - Presentation of Project Proposals

visiting grad students

23 March 2000 Recent activities with Mobile IPv6 and IPv6 cellular, Charlie Perkins (Nokia)



Spring Break

3 April 2000  Embedded Operating System (David)

Reading: Related Links

6 April 2000 Energy usage of information technology equipment, Jonathan Koomey (LBNL)


10 April 2000 Local Algorithms for Global Coordination

Readings: Useful links:
    Ant Colony Optimization: http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo/ACO/ACO.html
    Microrobots   http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/ants/
    Generic coordination strategies for Agents: http://dis.cs.umass.edu/research/gpgp.html
 
 

Results of miniprojects

13 April 2000 Victor Bahl, Microsoft


17 April 2000 Mid-stage Project Presentation / Discussion / Feedback

20 April 2000 continuing


24 April 2000 Network-Aware Applications

27 April 2000


Faculty Retreat (23-24)


1 May 2000 Services-Enabled New Internet

4 May 2000  Open Network Devices, Tal Lavian (NorTel Networks)


8 May 2000 Finale


Last Updated: 24 January 2000, David Culler & Randy H. Katz