(Subject to change)

CSCI 7143-002: Mobile Computing

Fall 2007

Department of Computer Science, University of Colorado at Boulder

Abstract:  Mobile computing has fast become an important new paradigm in today's world of networked computing systems.  Ranging from wireless laptops to cellular phones and WiFi/Bluetooth-enabled PDAs to wireless sensor networks, mobile computing has become ubiquitous in its impact on our daily lives.  The debut if iPhones and the proliferation of other handheld devices has spurred excitement and interest in this evolving field.  In this seminar, we will study the state-of-the-art in both the research and commercial communities with respect to mobile computing.  We will investigate standard protocols and platforms, the capabilities of today's commercial devices, and proposed next-generation solutions.  In the process, we will seek to gain an improved understanding about where the field is headed, and what are the important remaining unanswered technical questions and challenges.
Mobile computing devices
Mobile computing devices

In this graduate seminar, we will

  • explore the state-of-the-art in mobile computing research by reading, presenting and discussing selected papers, and 

  • design innovative research projects in mobile computing, covering such topics as:

    • new mobile computing applications, including location-aware and context-aware applications

    • improved networking communication protocols to support evolving needs of mobile computing applications

    • enhanced embedded operating systems for resource-constrained mobile computing devices

    •  better Internet backbone services to support next-generation mobile computing

    • and much more...
  • learn to program on mobile computing devices

 

 

Schedule & Location: MW 4:30-5:45 pm, ATLAS 1B25
Course number CSCI 7143-002, Call # 85074.  See also the CS Web site and select Courses.
Prerequisites: Graduate standing, and a sound understanding of networking and operating systems.  Interested undergrads should contact the instructor.
Instructor:   Professor Rick Han, http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~rhan
Office: ECCR 1B05F
Office Hours:   Tuesday 2-3 pm, Wednesday 2-3 pm, in ECCR 1B06 - note that this is different (and across the hallway) from my office
Email: rhan@cs.colorado.edu
Phone:   303-492-0914
Class Web site: http://www.cs.colorado.edu/~rhan/CSCI_7143_001_Fall_2007/home.htm

Grading

Students will be asked to:

25% Final project presentation to class
25% Final project report
20% Class presentation of papers
15% Paper reviews and participation in discussion
15% Programming projects

Plagiarism policy.
Religious observances policy.
Disability policy.
Discrimination and Sexual Harassment policy.
Classroom Behavior policy.

Research Projects

Students will be asked to build/create an innovative research project for presentation at the end of the semester.  Students will form teams of 2-3 members and work on projects as a team.  Teams and projects will be decided according to the timeline below.  Read ahead to topics that you'd be interested to do a project in.  A list of suggested project ideas will be available later.  Students are welcome to formulate their own project ideas.

Each team will be required to present their project to the class at the end of the course.  A final project report written in the style of a major ACM conference paper will be handed in following the presentation.  If the final project is sufficiently innovative, and is accepted as a paper at a conference, then I'll pay for your trip to that conference (Past projects have led to publications at conferences in Monterrey, California, and Athens, Greece).

Timeline for Project Presentations:

  • September 4-26: Project teams formed and topics discussed with professor.

  • September 28: Final project proposal (abstract) due via email and approved by professor.

  • Weeks of October 1, 15 and 29, and November 12: Bi-weekly progress meetings of each group with professor.

  • December 5-14: Final project presentations. 40 minutes for each team.

  • December 18: Final project reports due.

Paper Reviews and Presentations

Students are required to read, present, and discuss graduate-level research papers throughout the semester.  An average of 2-3 papers per week will be read.  Written reviews of each paper to be discussed in class are due prior to the start of that class, and should be emailed to the instructor rhan@cs.colorado.edu.  Late reviews will not be accepted.   For each paper, students should write a review answering each of the following questions:

  1. What problems (with prior work or the lack thereof) were addressed or surveyed by the authors?

  2. What solutions were proposed or surveyed by the authors?

  3. What are the technical strengths and main contributions of the paper's proposed solutions?

  4. What are the technical weaknesses of the paper's proposed solutions?  What suggestions do you have to improve upon the paper's ideas?

Each paper to be discussed in class will be assigned to a student to present in class.  Assignments will rotate thoughout the class.  Papers will be assigned approximately one week in advance of the presentation date.  The presenter of a given paper must email their Powerpoint slides to the instructor rhan@cs.colorado.edu by midnight of the night before the presentation.  The in-class presenter of a particular paper does not have to submit written reviews for any of the papers reviewed that same day in class.  The paper schedule may vary over the course of the semester, e.g. as new papers become published at the most recent conferences.

Programming Projects

There will be a software programming project in which students will build applications on actual mobile devices.  Some examples of such projects could be:

More information will be available on an Announcements web page or by email.  

Announcements

As the class progresses, announcements will be posted either on an Announcements Web page of the class Web site or via email.