Project and Presentation
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You may either work on a survey paper or a research paper, as you prefer.
The project should be performed by a group consisting of 2 students -- exceptions will need to be approved by the instructor.
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Survey paper-specific instructions:
Read papers on a topic (or related topics) in the area of
distributed algorithms, and write a survey report.
The minimum number of papers surveyed must be 8 for an individual project, and 14 for a project performed in a group of 2 students
(in the latter case, each student must closely read at least half of the papers surveyed, and should become familiar with the remaining papers).
These papers should be
distinct from any papers assigned for reading for the class. The survey
report should go beyond simply summarizing the papers. The survey report should
try to identify the relationship between the different papers
you have read (e.g., commonalities and differences in the various results,
or problem formulations). In the survey,
also discuss some open problems related to the surveyed topic.
The chosen papers should be primarily theoretical in nature.
The survey report should be 5 pages long for individual projects, and 10 pages long for groups consisting of 2 students (this page count does not include include the reference list). The report should be typed and single-spaced in 12 point font.
Do not reproduce proofs or algorithm pseudo-codes in your report -- you may instead cite the papers for these.
- Research paper-specific instructions:
You will need to identify a topic that you pursue for the research, define a specific problem, develop a solution
(e.g., propose an algorithm),
and provide an evaluation (e.g., the evaluation may be a correctness proof of your algorithm).
The research work should be primarily theoretical in nature.
You will need to submit a report that summarizes your contributions, and provide a summary of the relevant prior
publications.
The report should be typed in 12 point font.
Please discuss your proposed research with the instructor to arrive at a mutual agreement on the expectations from
the research work.
- Presentation: Towards the end of the semester you will need to make a presentation on your survey or research.
The presentations may be scheduled outside the normal lecture schedule for this course, or during the lectures (depending on the class size).
More details to be announced later.
Schedule:
- Choose a topic for your survey or research by September 15, 2016. You may consult the instructor or T.A. for help in choosing a topic. Submit a proposal by
September 15, 2016 -- the proposal should list your topic, and a tentative
list of relevant papers that you have identified. The list of papers may be modified
later if needed.
- October 8-15, 2016: Meet the instructor or T.A. during this window of time to discuss the progress of your work.
- Your survey/research paper is due by November 29, 2016.
- Presentations are planned during last two weeks of the semester. Details to be announced later.
ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC) and
International Symposium on DIStributed Computing (DISC)
are among the relevant conferences for this course.
The course page for Prof. Jennifer Welch's course
provides some suggestions for potential project topics, which may be useful
to you.
You may also find pointers to relevant topics on the web pages for courses on
Distributed Computing
and Ad Hoc and Sensor Networks
by Prof. Roger Wattenhofer.
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