CS 6386 Winter 1998

High Speed Switching Systems

Syllabus

Course Summary

CS 6386 (High Speed Switching Systems) is one of a set of advanced graduate courses in telecommunications/networking. CS 6386 assumes some prior coursework or background in networking; specifically students are expected to be familiar with the function and basic operation of the data link and network protocol layers. A course such as CS 4380, CS 6380 or EE 6092 provides suitable background. A student without this background should consult the professor about taking the course. The emphasis in CS 6386 is on the design and analysis of switching systems capable of operating at high speeds (megabits per second per interface) and supporting diverse application needs (e.g., real-time, bursty, rate-adaptive, multipoint). The course attempts to balance breadth with depth by focusing on three main topics: (1) the switching engine responsible for getting packets from input ports to output ports, (2) the forwarding decision responsible for determining which output port(s) to use for a given packet and (3) support for network services via management of link bandwidth and output queueing disciplines. Each unit consists of a combination of foundational material, examples from current switching technologies (ATM and IP), and readings from the current literature. An important component of the course is the project. The purpose of the project is to allow you (the student) to learn about a particular area in more detail. A list of suggested projects will be provided; you are also encouraged to design your own project, with input from the professor. Several important topics in switching are not covered due to time constraints. These include routing, signaling, and end-to-end protocols over high speed switching (e.g., TCP over ATM). Pointers to readings on these topics will be provided on the course web page.

Teaching/Learning Goals

My primary goals for this course are for you to develop the following abilities:
  1. to correctly use the basic terminology of high speed switching (topology, blocking and nonblocking, output contention, multistage network, policing, etc.);
  2. to demonstrate understanding of the fundamental problems and solution techniques that arise in the design of high speed switching systems;
  3. to understand and critically analyze state-of-the-art work in switching, including ATM and IP switching;
  4. to propose and analyze candidate solutions, to determine if they satisfy correctness and performance criteria;
  5. to recognize what constitutes a new idea in architecture design, and what is a twiddle on an old idea;
  6. to go beyond the course material, either by hands-on experience with state-of-the-art switching equipment or by exploring a research problem in high speed networking.
An additional goal is for you to participate actively in the learning process. I encourage and expect the course to be interactive. (Note the weight given to class participation in the grading.) I am also open to tailor portions of the course to your interests, especially towards the end of the quarter. Feel free to let me know what your interests are!

References on course material

There is no textbook that adequately covers the course material. There is a course webpage containing a variety of information that should be useful. This includes: a reading list for the course (with pointers to on-line versions of papers); information and a tutorial on using the Fore ATM switch; on-line copies of some of my notes; and a list of references to books, articles, tutorials and webpages that cover various aspects of high speed switching. The bookstore should have a few of the ATM book references. Barnes and Noble on Peachtree in Buckhead or Amazon Books are other decent sources of technical books.

Getting Help

There is one teaching assistant for the course. He will do all grading of homework assignments. His contact information is as follows:

Vikas Gupta
GCATT 234, 894-6735
vikgup@cc
Office hours: MWF 11-12, CoC common area


If you need to meet with me, come during my office hours or send me email to arrange an appointment. Office hours will be held in CoC 136. My contact information is as follows:

Ellen W. Zegura
Shared CoC Office: CoC 136
GCATT Office: GCATT 216, 894-1403
ewz@cc
Office hours: Tuesday 4:30 - 5:30pm, or by appointment

Grading

The tentative grading allocation is given below. This is subject to possible revision, namely to give more weight to homework and other out-of-class activities and less to the midterm and final.

Homework 20%
Class Participation 10%
Midterm 30%
Project 40%

Schedule (tentative)

Postscript version of schedule
Ellen Zegura
Last modified: Tue Jan 6 05:06:12 PST 1998