MIT 18.996 

Topics in Theoretical Computer Science: Internet Research Problems
Tom Leighton, Bruce Maggs, Ravi Sundaram, Shang-Hua Teng  

COURSE INFO
Lecturers: Tom Leighton, Bruce Maggs (CMU/Akamai), Ravi Sundaram (Akamai), and Shang-Hua Teng (BU/Akamai)
Meeting: Wednesday 4 - 7 pm (Room 2-105)

xmod

Office Hour: Monday 10 -- 11 am, 2-377 (For Professor Leighton)
Prerequisites: 6.046 or 18.410
The Course: We will discuss numerous research problems that are related to the internet. Sample topics include: routing algorithms such as BGP, communication protocols such as TCP, algorithms for intelligently selecting a resource in the face of uncertainty, bandwidth sensing tools, load balancing algorithms, streaming protocols, determining the structure of the internet, cost optimization, DNS-related problems, visualization, and large-scale data processing. The seminar is intended for students who are ready to work on challenging research problems. Each lecture will discuss
  • methods used today
  • issues and problems
  • formulation of concrete problems
  • potential new lines of research
A modest amount of background information will be provided so that the importance and context of the problems can be understood. No previous study of the internet is required, but experience with algorithms and/or theoretical computer science at the graduate/research level is needed.
Requirements: The class will not have any exams. Students will be asked to scribe lecture notes. Each lecture will have an assigned "scribe", whose job is to take notes for later distribution to the class. The notes should not be a simple copy of what is written on the white/blackboard. They have to be written to show that the scribe understands the material.

Please use the following latex package to prepare the notes

PLANNED LECTURES (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
Week Topic Slides Notes
1 (Feb. 6) Introduction ppt latex ps pdf
2 (Feb. 13) Routing Algorithms ppt pdf
3 (Feb. 10) Routing Algorithms (Cont.) talk.ps ps
4 (Feb. 27) DNS ppt ps , latex
5 (March 6) Client-Server DNS ppt latex ps
6 (March 13) Load Balancing Problems (Regional) ppt latex ps
7 (March 20) Load Balancing Problems (Global) ppt ps , latex
8 (March 27) Spring Break
9 (April 3) Overlay Routing Networks ppt ps , latex
10 (April 10) Streaming Content Delivery ppt ps , latex
11 (April 17) TCP Load Assignment , Student Presentation ps1 , ps2 latex
12 (April 24) Conjestion Control ppt ps, latex
13 (May 1) Coding, Compression, and Overlay Network ppt ps , latex
14 (May 8) Geographically Distributed Applications ps , latex
15 (May 15) Visualization Tools ppt ps , latex

steng@cs.bu.edu