Subject: BU/NSF Workshop on Internet Measurement, Instrumentation, and Characterization

From: "Azer Bestavros" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 11:59:21 -0400

BU/NSF Workshop on
      Internet Measurement, Instrumentation and Characterization
            Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
                        Monday August 30, 1999

                      (Preceding ACM SIGCOMM'99)

                        Call For Participation

Objectives and Overview
-----------------------
Because of its growth in  size, scope, and complexity---as well as its
increasingly  central role  in  society---the Internet  has become  an
important object of study and evaluation. Many significant innovations
in  the networking  community in  recent years  have been  directed at
obtaining a more accurate understanding of the fundamental behavior of
the complex system that is  the Internet.  These innovations have come
in the form of better models of components of the system, better tools
which  enable  us  to  measure  the performance  of  the  system  more
accurately,  and new  techniques coupled  with  performance evaluation
which  have   delivered  better  system   utilization.  The  continued
development and improvement of  our understanding of the properties of
the Internet  is essential to guide designers  of hardware, protocols,
and applications for the next decade of Internet growth.

As  a   research  community,  an  important  next   step  involves  an
comprehensive  look at the  challenges that  lie ahead  in this  area.
This includes an evaluation  of both the current  unsolved  challenges
and the upcoming  challenges the Internet will present  us with in the
near future,  and a  discussion of the  promising new  techniques that
innovators in  the field are  currently developing.  To this  end, the
Networking Research Group at  Boston University, with support from the
National  Science  Foundation   (pending),  is  organizing  a  one-day
workshop which will be held at Boston University on Monday, August 30,
1999, and which will immediately precede ACM SIGCOMM '99.

Technical Program
-----------------
The BU/NSF Internet  Measurement, Instrumentation and Characterization
(IMIC) workshop will feature four technical sessions:

 - Modeling and Characterization
 - Internet Instrumentation and Measurement
 - End-to-End Protocols and Services
 - Network Support for Next Generation Internet Applications.

Each session will consist of 3 invited presentations to be followed by
an  open  discussion. The  workshop  will  conclude  with a  panel  of
researchers  from academia  and industry,  as well  as representatives
from funding  agencies, who will discuss  opportunities and challenges
that  lie ahead,  and initiatives  to be  undertaken. A  final report,
including  materials  presented   and  discussion  summaries  will  be
available on-line  as a NSF  report. For more details,  please contact
John Byers at ([email-masked]).

Preliminary Schedule
--------------------

08:00-08:45  Registration and Breakfast

08:45-09:00  Welcome and Opening Remarks
             Azer Bestavros

09:00-10:20  Session I: Internet Instrumentation and Measurement
             Chair: Paul Barford

           - Ramesh Govindan, USC ISI
           - Sugih Jamin, University of Michigan

10:20-10:40  Break

10:40-12:00  Session II: Modeling and Characterization
             Chair: Mark Crovella

           - Walter Willinger, AT&T Research
           - Don Towsley, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
           - Jim Pitkow, Xerox PARC

12:00-13:40  Lunch

13:40-15:00  Session III: End-to-End  Protocols and Services
             Chair: John Byers

           - Mostafa Ammar, Georgia Tech
           - Venkata Padmanabhan, Microsoft Research
           - Vaduvur Bharghavan, UIUC

15:00-15:20  Break

15:20-16:40  Session IV: Network Support for Next Generation
Applications
             Chair: Ibrahim Matta

           - Henning Schulzrinne, Columbia University
           - Bala Rajagopalan, NEC Research Labs
           - John Zinky, BBN

16:40-17:00  Break

17:00-18:00  Panel on IMIC Challenges and Initiatives
             Coordinator: Azer Bestavros

18:00-18:15  Closing Remarks

Local Arrangements and Directions
---------------------------------
The workshop will  be held in the Boston  University Photonics Center.
Registration and the workshop sessions  will be held in the auditorium
(room 206) on the  2nd floor.  Lunch will be served on  the 9th floor.
The Boston University Campus is  located in Boston, across the Charles
River from  Harvard University and  MIT. For directions,  please check
the following URL:

http://www.bu.edu/admissions/visit/campus/directns.html

The Photonics  Center is located  just off Commonwealth Avenue  at the
heart  of the BU  campus.  If  you are  traveling either  eastbound or
westbound on  Commonwealth Av. turn  onto St. Mary's street  (the only
direction  you can  turn is  south -  there is  a Radio  Shack  on the
corner) and the  Photonics Center is 50 yards down  the street on your
left.  There  are a number of  parking lots near  the Photonics center
which cost between $6 and $12 per day.  If you are taking the subway -
take the  green line B  train toward Boston  College.  Get off  at the
Boston University Central stop which  is adjacent to St. Mary's street
and walk down St. Mary's street 50 yrds to the Photonics Center.

All other  questions concerning local arrangements  should be directed
to Paul Barford at ([email-masked]).

Registration
------------
To register  for the workshop,  please complete the  information below
and email it to Michael Mitzenmacher at ([email-masked]).

  Name: _____________________________________________
  Affiliation: ______________________________________
  Address: __________________________________________
  Address: __________________________________________
  Phone: ____________ Fax: __________________________
  Email: ____________________________________________

  Brief Description of Research Interests: (Optional)

An on-site registration  fee of $50.00 (payable in  cash, money order,
or check  drawn on a US bank)  will be charged per  attendee to defray
the costs of food and beverage services.

Pending support from the NSF,  the registration fee will be waived for
full-time  students  on a  First-Come-First-Serve  basis.  If you  are
interested in  such a waiver,  please contact Michael  Mitzenmacher at
([email-masked]).

Workshop Organizing Committee:
-----------------------------
  Paul Barford, Research Fellow, Boston University
  Azer Bestavros, Associate Professor, Boston University
  John Byers, Assistant Professor, Boston University
  Mark Crovella, Assistant Professor, Boston University
  Ibrahim Matta, Assistant Professor, Boston University
  Michael Mitzenmacher, Assistant Professor, Harvard University

----------------------------------------------------------------------

      For more information check the IMIC Workshop Home Page at
                    http://www.cs.bu.edu/pub/imic