Project #1

SYSC 5407 - Planning and Design of Computer Networks

Carleton University
Department of Systems and Computer Engineering
Prof. Marc St-Hilaire
Due date: October 6, 2014
1. Objectives
The objectives of this project are the following:
a) Do a litterature review related to the planning and design area of computer networks.
b) Present and detail the network design techniques of a given technology.
c) Learn how to search in the databases of the library (INSPEC, IEEE Xplore, etc).
d) Make a presentation to share your findings

2. Teams
Maximum of 12 teams. Given that we are 60 in the course, this means a maximum of 5 students per
team. As teams will be composed of 5 persons, I therefore expect good quality work.
As soon as your have a team, please send me an email confirming your topic (first come first served)
and the team members (names AND student IDs).
A forum is available on CuLearn to help you find partners interested in a given topic.

3. Intorduction to the Project

In this project, each team will do a research on the network design techniques for a given technology.
Here is a list of potential topics:
-

Traffic engineering in IP networks

Planning of 3G or 4G networks
Planning of WiMax networks
Planning of sensor networks
Planning of optical networks (SONET, WDM, PON)
Planning of QoS in IP networks
Planning of MPLS networks

Carleton University

It is also possible for you to come up with your own topic as long as it is related to the area of network
planning. However, I would recommend to check with me first.
For your topic, you need a minimum of 15 journal and/or conference papers. You should use the
databases of the library (such as INSPEC and IEEE Xplore). No online reference (such as wikipedia)
will be accepted.
Important note: Before selecting a topic, make sure you can find enough information/papers on it. It is
better to carefully select your project than to change topic half way.

4. Written Report
Your research/report must, at least, cover the following points:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Introduction and summary of the selected technology

Network planning process (in the context of the selected technology)
Technical details during the planning process
Main models and algorithms presented in the litterature
Application example
Conclusion

When you describe the algorithms (item 4 above), you need to provide more that just the description of
the algorithms. You should also provide a thorough alanysis of the algorithms. For example, is is an
efficient algorithm? What are the weaknesses? How does it compare to the others algorithms that are
available, etc.
The format for the report will be the two-columns IEEE Transactions style. Please visit this link for
more info. http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/authors/authors_journals.html
The report is limited to 5 pages. The report is due on Thursday, October 6, 2014.

5. Oral Presentation
Each team will have to present their project. Each presentation will last 20 minutes and there will be
some time allowed for questions at the end. Each member of the team is required to participate in the
presentation.
Presenatsions will start on October 6, 2014. The order of presentation will be determined later. You
should all be ready to present on the first day of presentations.
You need to submit a copy of your presentation.

Carleton University

5. Acronyms
3G
IP
MPLS
PON
QoS
SONET
WDM

Third generation cellular network

Internet Protocol
Multi-protocol Label Switching
Passive Optical Networks
Quality of Service
Synchronous Optical Network
Wavelength Division Multiplexing

Carleton University