15-849E: Wireless Networking
12 units
This course will provide a broad overview of ongoing research activities in the area of wireless networking. The focus of the course is on wireless protocols and how they are affected by the properties of the physical layer (the ether). Areas covered will include:
The format of the course will loosely follow the format used in 15-821, Mobile Computing Systems and Applications. The course has three components. First there will be a set of discussion session centered around research papers preceded by a set of lectures on wireless networking basics. Second, each student will be expected to write a short research proposal or business plan. Finally, there will be a course project. Each component is briefly described below; more details will be provided in the first lecture.
Administrative
Information
Instructor: Peter Steenkiste, Wean Hall 8202, prs@cs.cmu.edu
Lectures: Tu/Th 3:30-4:30, Wean Hall 4601
Office hours: Monday 10:30-noon, Wean Hall 8202
Students must have taken at least one full semester course in networking. Ideally, students will also have taken a second course in networking or have additional experience with networks.
There is no textbook. The course will be based on research papers.
A useful, optional textbook is: William Stallings, Wireless Communications and Networking, Prentice Hall.
The course grade will be based on the project (35%), the research/business proposal (20%), the preparation of the discussion (see form) (20%), a quiz on the introductory material, bullets prepared for the discussion sessions, and participation in class (25% together).
Important dates
Here is a list of deadlines:
Lectures and
discussion sessions
The main activity of the course will be set of 10-15 discussion sessions on research topics in wireless networks. Each session will focus on a specific wireless topic and will be based on ~3 research papers selected by the instructor. Each session will be prepared by a student who will lead the discussion. A list of topics and readings is available here.
In order to prepare for the research sessions, the course will start with a set of lectures that cover key network features that are unique to wireless (primarily physical layer properties and mobility). The discussion sessions will start in the fourth week of the semester. A detailed schedule for the course can be found here.
Each student must read all the assigned papers before each discussion session. In order to provide material for the discussion session, each student must mail me a list of bullets on each paper, summarizing the strong and weak points of each paper. I would expect on the order of 4-5 bullets per paper. The total length for each session (for all papers combined) should be no more than a page. Please e-mail the lists to the instructor by noon, the day of the session. Plain text is preferred!
Research proposal or
Business Plan
Each student will write a research proposal or a business plan. The research proposal should describe a research project, summarize related work, sketch a budget and outline a management plan and success criteria. The business plan should describe a proposed product or service, discuss the targeted market, pricing and competition, sketch a budget and outline a management plan. The proposal or business plan can be on any topic, i.e. it does not have to be related to the student’s course project or discussion session.
Course project
In the second half of the course, small teams of students will do a wireless networking project. Students can pick a project topic from a list provided by a instructor or they can propose their own topic.