CS111 Research Paper

INTRODUCTION

This course is a brief introduction to foundational concepts, that should enable you to begin studying more advanced concepts. Among the key learning objectives for this course is:

provide all students with a conceptual foundation that will enable them to read well written OS-related papers ... and engage in intelligent discussions of those topics. This project gives you the opportunity to develop, exercise, and demonstrate that ability.

RELATION TO READING AND LECTURES:

This project is expected to complement and deepen your understanding of material presented in the reading and lectures.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES:

The goals of this project are:

primary: demonstrate the ability to read and absorb information from well written recent papers in Operating Systems related areas.
primary: demonstrate the ability to relate concepts from this course to new discussions.
primary: demonstrate the ability to engage in a discussion of concepts from this course.
primary: develop and demonstrate the ability to write cogent and understandable technical prose.

DELIVERABLES:

A 5-10 page paper in ASCII text, pdf, or HTML.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:

review the last few years of papers from the following Operating Systems related conferences:
- Files and Storage (FAST)
- Symposium on Operating Systems Principles (SOSP)
- Operating Systems Design and Implementation (OSDI)
find a paper (in an area discussed in this course) that you find interesting, and submit it to your TA for approval.
Write a brief (e.g. 1-2 page) summary of:
- the problem they were trying to address
- their approach, and how it differed from prior approaches
- what they actually built and tested
- what results they obtained
- what conclusions they drew about the problem and approaches to its solution
Write a 3-8 page discussion of:
- what key subject(s) from this course featured prominently in the paper
- how principles presented in our reading and lectures were expanded on or reaffirmed in the underlying research. Illustrate your points with specific quotes from the paper, reading, and lecture notes.
- how the paper came to different conclusions, or gave you a diffrent understanding of principles discussed in this class. Illustrate your points with specific quotes from the paper, reading, and lecture notes.
- how the examples, analysis, or results from your chosen paper could be used to improve the presentation of the that topic in this course.
If you find it necessary to do additional research to better understand some topics or issues, list those sources in a resources section, explain why you sought out each, and summarize what you obtained from it.

VALUE:

This project is worth 10% of your total course grade.

Points for this project will be awarded:

Value	Feature
10%	clarity and readability (including grammar and spelling)
10%	how well you can summarize the subject and goals of chosen paper.
10%	how well you can summarize the approach and work done in your chosen paper.
10%	how well you can summarize the results from your chosen paper.
10%	how well you can synthesize key conclusions from your chosen paper.
20%	depth, completeness, specificity and insightfulness of your analysis of the similarities in the chosen principles as discussed in the course and your chosen paper.
20%	depth, completeness, specificity and insightfulness of your analysis of the differences in the chosen principles as discussed in the course and your chosen paper.
10%	depth, specificity and cogency of your suggested improvements to the treatment in this course.

SUBMISSION:

This project is due by midnight on Monday June 6, 2016. It should be submitted, as a single file, with turnitin. Slip-days can be used on this project, but if it is turned in after June 8, you may have to take an incomplete in the class, which we will change as soon as we are able to finish the grading.