Course: CIS856 TCP/IP & Upper Layer Protocols - Course Project

Professor: Paul D. Amer
Semester: Fall 2012
Last updated: 8-27-2012

Each student must select a topic from the list below (students must select a topic that they do NOT already know), and satisfy these requirements:

  1. immediately perform a literature search and begin becoming an expert on your topic
  2. prepare and give a Powerpoint class presentation
  3. design a homework assignment to be done by the other students
  4. Note: it is the student's responsibility to set up appointment(s) with the professor to gain advance approval of the presentation and homework assignment.
List of Topics Legend

Core TCP/IP Protocols

Variations to improve TCP performance Alternate Transport Protocols Other Topics SCTP extensions (for individuals already familiar with SCTP) Literature Search

Each student must do an extensive literature search of the topic studied. The following places are suggested starting points for finding information on your topic.

Class Presentation Preview

(DUE ONE WEEK BEFORE THE PRESENTATION)
After extensively reading about the topic, each student must select the most important features of the topic and construct an outline and Powerpoint slides for a class presentation.  The student must schedule a meeting with the professor.  At that meeting, the slides should be in draft form.

At least half of the slides should be filled with meaningful diagrams and figures.  Slides filled with bulleted lists of text are boring.  Figures reproduced from the textbook or a paper should be enlarged or redrawn.  Slides should never contain characters smaller than 20 point size; only in rare instances is a smaller font appropriate.  Capitalization and grammar must be consistent. Roughly 15-20 slides are appropriate; never more that 25.

The presentation grade, in part, will be based on how well the slides are prepared and the material organized.  In this meeting, ways to improve the slides and talk will be discussed.

Reference materials or handouts that the students need to read before the presentation should be discussed during this meeting so that arrangements can be made to notify the class and distribute copies.

Class Presentation

Each student must present a 60-65 minute lecture leaving time for 10-15 minutes of questions and discussion.  This activity provides experience with researching and preparing a lecture at the graduate level.  For the class, the presentation should educate and initiate, motivate, and guide some amount of questioning and discussion.

The presentation must begin with a good overview including simple examples in real-life terms (i.e., not in ISO or TCP/IP terminology) giving the class an understanding as to the general purpose of the topic. No details should be discussed until it is certain that the class understands the basic motivation for the topic. Analogies with the Postal System or the telephone system are often helpful.

While this is not a course in public speaking, the ability and experience in giving polished presentations is a required skill in the working world.  Many past graduates have indicated that the practice and feedback in making their 856 class presentation were extremely useful in preparing them for presentations they later had to make in their jobs.  The professor shall do his best to provide critical, yet constructive individualized feedback on each student's presentation.   The class presentation grade will be based on:

The key to a good presentation is PRACTICE.  (Note: Non-native-English-speaking students will not be penalized for English mistakes; the professor has lived and taught in France, and knows first hand the difficuly in presenting material in a second language!)

My intention in evaluating the presentations is to give them a sense of importance so that each one is well-planned and done competently.  The professor will spend time with each student prior to the presentation to discuss and review the overheads and important points.

Homework Assignment

(DRAFT DISCUSSED WITH PROFESSOR DURING WEEK BEFORE CLASS PRESENTATION ;
FINAL VERSION HANDED OUT AT CLASS PRESENTATION)
Each student must prepare a homework assignment for the other students (and an answer key for the professor!) covering the class lecture and any assigned readings. This task requires the presenter to consider the important points that all students should understand and remember after the course is over.

The homework assignment should preferably be a Wireshark monitoring experiment. If a live capture in not possible, then the student can provide a capture (i.e., a .pcap file) for the students to use. If a hands-on experiment is not possible, the assignment may consist of three or four essay questions/problems, and/or a small programming project. As a general guide, the time required for an average student in the class to complete the assignment should be approximately 2 hours. The assignment must be agreed upon with the professor before the class presentation.