Course Project
Fall 2018
A literature review summarizes important published results and problems in a well-defined area of academic study. Its purpose is to help newcomers to the field recognize the problems under investigation by an active community of researchers.
The final project is a literature review of any topic in networking that sparks your interest. The literature review should focus on at least three contemporary papers (published within the last 2 years) and provide a higher level summary of other earlier work when warranted. Here are some guidelines to consider regarding content and form.
Content Guidelines
Cited papers should appear in journals or conferences affiliated with the IEEE or the ACM (other organizations require prior approval). Here are some conferences sponsored by IEEE ComSoc. Also take a look at SIGCOMM.
An effective review gives a broad overview of a topic and also includes enough detail to grasp key contributions. The topic should not be limited to one author or one paper, but should instead define the body of work in a community.
Analyze/compare/contrast/deconstruct the three papers of primary focus. Explain how they relate to each other and justify their importance. Why they are representative of the topic you've chosen?
Explain how the research in the selected area has evolved over time, and cite papers to provide evidence of your assessment.
Explain where you see the field heading in the future. What impact will this topic have on the overall field of networking?
Do not cite survey papers in your review. The purpose of the project is to make your own "survey" not recap the survey of someone else.
Form Guidelines
Your submission should be formatted as an article in the IEEE Transactions. Use LaTeX if possible, but Word is also acceptable.
One section should be an introduction, one section should be a high-level summary of your topic, and three or more sections should be devoted to the papers of primary focus.
The review should be 4-5 pages in length.
Grading
The total grade will be 20 points.
5 points will be assigned for the quality of papers cited in your review. The cited papers and conferences should be relevant and/or influential.
5 points will be assigned for the high-level topic review. You should demonstrate awareness of the underlying trends in the field.
10 points will be assigned for your critique of the three significant papers. Make sure to identify the key ideas and contributions in each paper.
I will evaluate the breadth of your review and whether you said anything interesting or insightful.
The report is due on November 13 and must be submitted online. You may work in groups of two. Good luck!