COSC 4P14 – Project Guidelines
Project due date: 11 am, March 31, 2010
No late date
Project presentations starting from April 7, 2010
This is a research project on the advanced topics of computer networks. The project is to be done
preferably by a team of two students contributing equally to the project. In exceptional cases it may be done
by an individual student and then may involve proportionally less work.
I expect that working in a team will allow you to tackle more substantial research issues. If you have
trouble finding a project partner, I can help you get matched up with someone else by maintaining a list of
people seeking teammates.
It is important that you investigate a variety of literature in the area you have chosen. You do not need to
do an exhaustive literature search. You should, however, find at least 5 related references for your report.
Eventually, you may need to use our library's interlibrary loan facility.
Write first an introduction to the topic, discuss its significance, and present an overview of what is
currently known about it. Report then on some recent research or development activity related to your
topic. Discuss this new development, explaining its significance and comparing it with previous work.
The output of the project should be a report of 10 pages long (12 pt font, 1.5 line spacing, reasonable
margins). The report should be written using a word processor. Submit a hard copy to the instructor in the
class on the due date and e-mail its electronic version to c4p14a@cosc.brocku.ca.
A set of suggested project topics is included below.
You should specify composition of your team and research topic by February 13 th by sending me an
e-mail.
In case of your own proposal, clearly describe on one page the topic to be undertaken and submit your
proposal to me by e-mail at least a week in advance of the above deadline.
Evaluation: The primary criterion is that your report clearly discusses the topic and evaluate the reviewed
literature in your own words. You are expected to give some ideas of your own as well. Do not cut and
paste text you find from the web or other sources into your paper! I am interested in what you have to say,
and not what others have said. It is considered plagiarism if you include text which isn't attributed to its
source. You will have to submit your paper to a plagiarism-checking site on the web before it will be
marked.
Some of the topics can be used for COSC 3P99 projects.
Project presentation
Prepare, using PowerPoint, a 10 minutes/student (20 minutes/team) presentation of your project. Send the
PowerPoint file as an attachment to c4p14a@cosc.brocku.ca by due date of the project.
Print it out with 6 slides per page and submit it together with the project report in an envelope with
appropriate cover page. Be ready for class presentation on April 7.
List of possible research topics:
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Architecture and protocols of the Bluetooth
Development and deployment of WiMAX, EVDO and HSPDA
Some aspects of wireless mobile ad hoc networks
Some aspects of wireless sensor networks
Future of wireless networks
Security of wireless networks
Fault Based Cryptanalysis
Assessment of a networked computer system vulnerability
Formal models of secure systems
Formal verification of security
Security in multilevel databases
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Audio and video compression in the Internet
Future of the multimedia networking
Exemplary research topics proposal ( can be taken)
The Security of Diffie-Hellman Algorithm.
The security of Diffie-Hellman relies on the difficulty of the discrete logarithm problem. This project
describes attempts to determine what size primes are required for security. In particular, evaluate the secure
identification option of the Sun Network File System, which uses Diffie-Hellman algorithm with a prime p
of 192 bits.
Objectives:
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To describe the different steps necessary to solve the discrete logarithm problem (DLP).
To discuss the state-of-the-art results obtained for the solution of DLP.
Present the SUN NFS cryptosystem, and discuss some of its deficiencies.
Recommendations in order to have a secure size for the prime number p used in the Diffie-Hellman
algorithm.