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CS 754B, Fall 1999:  Mobile & Wireless Computing

Instructor
Jay Black, DC 3506/MC 6258, x5474
Meeting times
Wednesdays and Fridays, 1:30, DC 3307, from September 15
Marks
Presentations/lectures:  60%
Project:  40%, due Wednesday, December 15, 1999
Important links:      Course schedule      Resource list

Overview

This course will give the student an appreciation of the issues and state of the art in mobile and wireless computing.  The course will cover the protocol and software layers from the physical layer upwards, ending with issues related to operating system facilities, the application-OS interface, and application adaptation to the communication environment.  Some of the topics to be discussed include basic wireless transmission technologies, cellular networks, data protocols (CDMA, GSM, wireless ATM and their successors), security, system software and services, and the user's view of the mobile/wireless environment.  Reference material wil be taken from the current literature, much of it available on the web.  Students may wish to consult the Shoshin Mobile Computing Project.  The reading list from the Fall 1995 offering of the course will also serve as a starting point.

Students are expected to have a background in data communications and distributed systems comparable at least to  CS 654.  Concurrent registration in CS 654 will probably not be reasonable preparation.
 

Presentations

Given the expectation of significant enrolment and a fairly clear intended course content, the presentations topics will be quite clearly defined by the course schedule.  Each student is expected to work as part of a team of two or three to prepare two hours' worth of lecture material on a particular topic.  Preparation will involve collecting background material as well as designing  and preparing the lectures.  For most topics, some web-based reference material and/or notes should be made available on the course resource list for all.  You should think carefully about what to present and how, and be conscious of what you can resonably cover in two one-hour lectures with questions.  You should seriously consider the presentation guidelines I use myself.

Student teams should "bid" for presentation weeks at their earliest opportunity.  Note in particular, that my lecture notes from Fall 1995 provide a reasonable starting point for the earlier lectures.

Projects

Project topics should be discussed with me before you get too committed.  To that end, I will require an outline of your project on paper or by e-mail no later than Monday morning, November 22.  The outline should indicate the topic, main issues, and references you have found to that point.  No credit will be granted directly for the outline, but a penalty may be assessed if none is submitted.  I will send you an e-mail response about your project within a week.  Projects will be due on Wednesday, December 15.  Extensions and incompletes will not normally be granted.

The default form for a project is as a research proposal of 10­15 pages.  It should include a survey of the relevant literature, identification and justification for one or more research projects that should be undertaken, and a discussion of the expected contributions that might be made should the research project be successful.  Other types of project are encouraged, subject to prior approval.

J. P. Black, jpblack@uwaterloo.ca, 1999.12.06