Information regarding graduation projects for the Academic Year 2003/2004

Dr. Khaled Fouad Elsayed

Please read carefully before discussing projects with me. Thank you.

The following projects are planned for this year:

1- Route optimization in a multihomed network environment

Multihoming is a technique used for increasing the reliability of network connections for critical applications by using multiple connections to two or more network operators. In this project, you will optimize such a setup using criterions such as cost, reliability, performance, and load balancing. The main techniques used are BGP routing protocol, NAT, network links/paths measurements and characterization, (raw) socket programming, Linux, and some basic math.

2- Mobile Firewall and/or Visitor Gateway

This project is about building a firewall suitable for mobile IP users. The firewall rules of a specific user follow him as he moves from one network access point to another. Another idea is to build a gateway to allow visitors with portable computers to access a LAN with no reconfiguration of the PC (visitor gateway). The main techniques used are: firewall rules management (iptables), NAT, sockets, AAA protocols, mobile IP, Wi-Fi, Linux.

3- Internet Routing

This project is a research oriented project aiming at enhancing the performance of routing protocols in the Internet. Traditional routing protocols are mainly based on hop/link counts or link capacity and are not load dependent. This project will use network simulators to do research on efficient and practical enhancements to Internet routing protocols such as OSPF. The main techniques used are: simulation modeling, NS-2, OSPF protocol, Linux.

4- Wireless Systems Capacity Enhancement using combination of OFDM and CDMA

Future long-range (i.e. not LAN) wireless systems are expected to offer bit rates of over 20 Mbps for mobile users. To realize such high speeds OFCDM has been proposed by NTTDoCoMo as the preferred physical layer for such high bit rates. This project will try to test the performance of OFCDM in a multi-user environment and build a simple OFCDM modem using DSPs. The main techniques used are: Matlab, DSP programming, CDMA, OFDM.

General requirements

° While the above projects are proposed, I am still open to discussing students initiated projects.

° Teams of 3 to 5 members: open-minded, self-initiated hard working, and interested in one of the above projects

° Preference will be given to those with some knowledge in the subject area

° Your overall grades will play a role. Also, the data structures project of the third year is very important. I expect that a grade of 34 or above in the project will be a strong point.