CSCI 704: Advanced Operating Systems
Spring 1998

http://www.cs.wm.edu/~esmirni/Teaching/cs704/s98

Instructor: Prof. Evgenia Smirni
Office: M-S Hall 103, Phone: 1-3580
Time/Place: TTh 12:30-13:50, McClothlin-Street 104
Office hours: TTh 15:00-17:00, by appointment, or whenever you can find me
Textbook: Selection of articles , Bibliography Sources

Proposed Projects

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Lectures

Synopsis/Purpose Advanced Operating Systems is a breadth course covering both theoretical and practical issues in operating system design. Although some classic and survey papers will be covered, emphasis will be placed on current design issues and research topics. The goals of the course are: (a) to familiarize students with classic and current literature in the area, (b) give the opportunity to students to work on a research project (i.e., have a first taste of what research is about), (c) to give the students experience in making public presentations of technical work, (d) to give the students experience in technical writing, and (e) to foster critical thinking and to encourage discussions about design choices, tradeoffs, and their consequences.

Prerequisites A first course in operating systems is a prerequisite. Background in architecture, networking, compilers, programming languages, and parallel computation will be very useful. An interest in reading, thinking, and discussing issues in advanced system design is a must. Be warned: this is a read-intensive course!

Coursework/Grading Policy Final grades will be computed as follows:
Class Participation 10%
Quizzes and Homeworks 20%
Team Project 70%
During the course of the semester, you are expected to keep up pace with two activities: (a) the papers from the reading list that I will be presenting in class and (b) your selected research project. Short in-class quizzes and selected homeworks (a total of 5 or 6) will be used as a safe-holder for the first activity. To ensure good progress of the selected research project, you will be expected to submit three write-ups during the course of the semester and one final report.

Projects and Deadlines The projects are designed for groups of two or three students. Each group of students should work on a different project. Examples of possible research topics include: Ideally, you should come up with a proposal for a research project close to your research interests. I will have to approve your proposal. Alternatively, you can select one of the research projects I will propose in class. More details about the proposed projects will appear on the web address soon.
The following time-frame will help ensure good progress for all projects during the course of the semester. I strongly encourage you to start as early as possible and iterate your ideas/results with me as often as necessary, even on a weekly basis. The final report should (ideally) have the form of a publishable paper.
Research Proposal Due: February 12
Literature Review Paper Due: March 5
First Progress Report Due: March 26
Second Progress Report Due: April 9
In Class Presentations: April 23, 28, 30
Final Report Due: May 4


Honor Code Except for the projects, all work is to be done on an individual basis.

Students with disabilities If you have a disability that may affect your participation in this course and wish to discuss academic accommodations, please contact me as soon as possible.

Reading List This is a preliminary list of the readings, it is by no means finalized (i.e., it may change according to the interests of the class). All material has been placed on reserve at Swem Library.
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last modified on February 3, 1998.