A
research paper on a telecommunications or
network engineering topic is a key component of the class. This is an
opportunity to choose a topic of interest in the eld and research it
in depth. Students should select a communications technology (e.g. –
Mesh Networking, Fibre Channel, Storage Area Networks, Security of
TCP/IP based protocols, error correction techniques in satellite
networks, etc.) and where appropriate to the paper objective try to
include the following:
Explain details of the technology (What
is it? What needs does it solve?)
Explain role of technology in
communications (Why is it important?)
Compare to competing
technologies (How does it perform?)
Assess maturity & future
of the technology (Where has it been and where is it going?)
This
is a guideline and if your objective is such that these questions
don’t fit or make your narrative unwieldy then stick with your
“story”. For example, if you say your
paper is about Encryption vulnerabilities in SSL/TLS the last
question above doesn’t really fit well. Instead, maybe
touch on potential improvements that could be make to the protocols
or systems to make them more resistant to the attacks you cover in
your narrative.
There
is no mandatory format, but the paper should look consistent,
professional, and include all the features appropriate for a graduate
research paper (Title page, clear introduction and conclusion, page
numbers, and citations as needed). A set of scholarly references
that will likely be used as direct or indirect references (excludes
Wikipedia and the course textbook)
EXAMPLE
RESEARCH PAPER TOPICS
This list is by no means exhaustive (I welcome discussion
of other topics that interest you!) but a 10 minute brain dump of
topics you may want to consider.
Wireless/Cellular: Zigbee (Home Automation
Protocols), WiHD, UWB, WPA3 (security), 802.11ac/ax and later, 5G
cellular
Storage/Data Center: iSCSI and Storage Area Networks
(iSCSI), SMB 3.0 (Server Message Block), Fabric protocols, SDN
(Software Defined Networking), ECMP, NvME over Ethernet, server bus
or interface standards (PCIe, etc.)
VoIP: a technical analysis of SIP and Cisco SKINNY
control protocols in VoIP systems, network security in VoIP
systemsLast Mile: WiMAX/WiMAX2, Passive Optical Networks
(FiOS), BPL/Homeplug (Broadband over Powerline), challenges of data
via satellite (e.g. — Iridium)
HPC: low-latency network switch architectures, data
center or HPC network architectures/topologies, networking protocols
and interconnects (Infiniband, Quadrics, etc.)
TCP/IP: IPv6 transition mechanisms, IPv6 security
challenges/vulnerabilities/mitigations, SCTP (new transport layer)
features and comparison to TCP and UDP, Multilink TCP, Mobile IP
Optical: optical switching, IP over optical, dynamic
path provisioning/GMPLS, free-space optics, advanced Passive Optical
Networking (like FiOS)
Security: Tor/onion routing, peer-to-peer and botnet
control algorithms/protocols, analysis of network protocol
vulnerabilities and possible exploit scenarios (e.g. – BEAST), IoT
networking security issues
Other: dynamic mesh networking, forward error
correction techniques, new satellite-based (or balloon/drone/etc.)
Internet services, later generation cable modems, BPL, quantum
communications, etc.
Remember, you need to have a researchable area (I’d love to know
about the latest silicon-based switching fabric chips Amazon is using
in their data centers… but there is probably not much info in the
public domain) and you need to be able to tell an engaging,
compelling technical story (e.g. – A technical comparison of
high-speed network interconnect technologies in modern data center
environments).