SYSC 5801: Advanced
Topics in Computer Communications: Wireless Sensor Networks (Winter 2018)
Updates
·
Due to low enrollment, the department has decided to cancel the
course offering this term.
In
the Winter 2018 term, Professor Kunz is teaching a
graduate course Wireless Sensor Networks, offered as an Advanced Topics course.
As more information becomes available, it will be posted on this page.
Some humorous links with information loosely connected to the course:
·
Some colleague was successful publishing a journal paper with very little content. Even
better, some 33 years later or so, others managed to publish a follow-up paper. However, in
this course, I’ll expect a bit more content J.
·
In
the category of funny academic papers, here is another one. It is probably funnier
once you had experience with the academic review process yourself though.
·
Another
topic we talk about in class are standards. Here is a funny story about the consequences of standards.
·
Finally,
there is a whole slew of RFCs to describe IP over Avian
Carriers (goes to show that the IETF, a major standardization body in the
Internet, can have some fun as well J)
Some
more factual/technical links:
·
An
interesting networking paper is "End-to-End
Arguments in System Design" by Saltzer et
al. (which, according to Google Scholar, has been cited almost 2900 times as of
November 2017), and the key argument/principle also has its own Wikipedia entry
·
And
in terms of writing papers, here is a great blog
entry about why some employers at least care about grammar/writing skills
·
You
can find an interesting video recording of a conversation on the history of
data packets with Vint Cerf, one of the “fathers” of the Internet, on YouTube. You may also
want to check out some other of his interviews, he has a great job title (Chief
Internet Evangelist at Google), and some strongly held opinion on the Internet
and its future.
This course draws heavily on the following textbooks:
· Fundamental of Wireless Sensor Networks: Theory and Practice, by Waltenegus Dargie and Christian Poellabauer , John Wiley & Sons 2010 ISBN 978-0470997659
· Wireless Sensor Networks, by Ian F. Akyildiz and Mehmet Can Vuran, John Wiley & Sons 2010, ISBN 978-0-470-03601-3.
· Protocols and Architectures for Wireless Sensor Networks, by H. Karl and A. Willig, Wiley, May 2005
You should also consult the
relevant journals and conference proceedings for material related to the course
project. Finally,
here are links to three open access books on wireless networks and wireless
sensor networks that also may be of interest to you:
·
Mobile
Ad Hoc Networks: Applications
·
Mobile
Ad Hoc Networks: Protocol Design
Reading papers, preparing presentations: the course will require you to (among other things) read papers, prepare a presentation, and engage in a course project, training your research skills. To prepare for these tasks, you should consult a number of online references on how to go about this (preparing a GOOD presentation or project report takes substantial effort):
·
A
short sequence of PPT transparencies from Nitin Vaidya on how to read, write,
and present papers (postscript
or HTML
document).
·
IEEE
Computer, September 2005, had an interesting article on Presentation Skills.
·
Another
useful reference is the website Advice
on Research and Writing and the Graduate Study
in the Computer and Mathematical Sciences: A Survival Manual website.
·
On
the other hand, avoid the pitfalls identified in How to
Have a Bad Career in Research/Academia.
·
A (tongue-in-cheek)
dictionary of "useful" research phrases.
·
A
lengthy but very interesting talk by Richard Hamming on what it takes to be a great researcher.
Plagiarism is unfortunately a not too infrequent problem in academia. I expect all submissions to clearly identify what sources/references have been used for what part of your submission. If you are unsure as to what constitutes plagiarism, please check this website.
Course handouts and other information, including
assignments:
·
Course handout (last updated January 15)
Course material (password-protected, will be posted as the material becomes available):
· Factors Influencing WSN Design
Thomas Kunz