Networking for Big Data and Laboratory

Professors:  Paolo Di Lorenzo, Andrea Baiocchi

Objectives: The first aim of the Networking for Big Data and Laboratory course is to provide students the principles of Internet networking, illustrating also the basics of digital communications and signal processing. The course focuses on recent advances in networking protocols to efficiently support Distributed Data Centers infrastructures. Finally, Data Center architecture is presented and two major issues are investiaged with some detail, namely scheduling and congestion control.

Prerequisite: Understanding of programming logic. Basics of probability and statistics, matrix algebra, and calculus. 

Final Exam: Written exam + Oral exam

• Written exam on Part 1. Open-ended questions.  0 : 22 points

• Oral exam on Part 2. Typically, two-three questions.  0 : 11 points

Final grade is the sum of the two grades. 30 e lode requires achieving at least 32 points.

Examples of questions on Part 1:

• Time-frequency analysis: Spectrogram and Scalogram.

• The sampling theorem.

• Digital communication: Pulse Amplitude Modulation.

• MAC Protocols: Aloha and CSMA.

• Routing Algorithms: Link State and Distance Vector Routing.

• TCP protocol: Congestion control. 

Classroom code (a.y. 2024-2025):   ujyhnyl

Lectures Time (a.y. 2024-2025)

• Monday 15:00 - 17:00 (classroom B2 - building RM102 - via Ariosto 25)

• Tuesday 15:00 - 19:00 (Aula I Caglioti - https://www.uniroma1.it/sites/default/files/ACU032.pdf )

• Thursday 11:00 - 13:00 (Aula 201 Viale Regina Elena - https://maps.app.goo.gl/2QZ8NtxQJ8wez1s28)

Office Hours

• Prof. Paolo Di Lorenzo - Office hours will take place on Thursday from 3 pm to 4 pm. It is possible to schedule videocalls in different days sending an email to paolo.dilorenzo@uniroma1.it

• Prof. Andrea Baiocchi - Office hours will take place on Monday morning (from 11:00 to 12:00). It is possible to arrange dedicated Skype calls sending an email to andrea.baiocchi@uniroma1.it

Contents 

Part 1  (6 CFU) - Fundamentals of Signal Processing and Networking  (Prof. Paolo Di Lorenzo)

• Fundamentals of signal processing 

  • Spectral analysis of signals and images    [1], [3 - Chapters 2, 3, 4], [4, Chapter 7.3]

  • Linear Processing, filters, sampling and interpolation    [1], [3 - Chapters 5, 9]

  • Source coding: Signal and image compression, transform coding, JPEG   [1], [4, Chapter 8.2]

• Fundamentals of networking

  • Physical layer: Digital modulations (PAM, PSK, QAM). AWGN channel and MAP receiver, Performance of digital communications.  [1], [3 - Chapter 12]

  • Link layer: Framing, error detection and correction, medium access control, Ethernet.

  • Network layer: Routing algorithms, IP protocol, addressing.

  • Transport layer: TCP and UDP, Congestion control.

References:  [1], [2], [3], [4], [10]

Part 2  (3 CFU) - Data Centers  (Prof. Andrea Baiocchi)

• Outline of cloud computing.

• Data centers architectures, topologies, addressing, routing.

• Job scheduling and load balancing.

• Congestion control (QCN, DCTCP).

References:  [1], [5]-[9]

Link to Data Center webpage - Prof. Baiocchi

Textbooks and resources:

[1]  Slides, notes, and codes

[2] James F. Kurose and Keith Ross, “Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet”, Pearson Ed. 

[3] Prandoni, P., & Vetterli, M. (2008). Signal processing for communications. EPFL press. 

[4] Gonzales, Rafael C., and Paul Wintz. Digital image processing. Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., 1987. 

[5] Liu, Y., Muppala, J. K., Veeraraghavan, M., Lin, D., & Hamdi, M. (2013). Data center networks: Topologies, architectures and fault-tolerance characteristics. Springer Science & Business Media. 

[6] Da Fonseca, Nelson LS, and Raouf Boutaba, eds. Cloud services, networking, and management. John Wiley & Sons, 2015. 

[7] Zhou, X., Wu, F., Tan, J., Sun, Y., & Shroff, N. (2017). Designing low-complexity heavy-traffic delay-optimal load balancing schemes: Theory to algorithms. Proceedings of the ACM on Measurement and Analysis of Computing Systems, 1(2), 1-30. 

[8] Alizadeh, M., Atikoglu, B., Kabbani, A., Lakshmikantha, A., Pan, R., Prabhakar, B., & Seaman, M. (2008, September). Data center transport mechanisms: Congestion control theory and IEEE standardization. In 2008 46th Annual Allerton Conference on Communication, Control, and Computing (pp. 1270-1277). IEEE. 

[9] Alizadeh, M., Greenberg, A., Maltz, D. A., Padhye, J., Patel, P., Prabhakar, B., ... & Sridharan, M. (2010, August). Data center tcp (dctcp). In Proceedings of the ACM SIGCOMM 2010 Conference (pp. 63-74). 

[10] Computer networks. AS Tanenbaum. Pearson Education India, 2003.