BU/NSF Workshop on
Internet Measurement, Instrumentation and Characterization

Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Monday August 30, 1999

(Preceding ACM SIGCOMM'99)

Preliminary 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 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, 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: 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 (byers@cs.bu.edu).

Preliminary Schedule

Local Arrangements and Directions

The workshop will be held in the Photonics Center at the heart of the Boston University Campus. The Boston University Campus is located in Boston, across the Charles River from Harvard University and MIT.

The Photonics Center is located at 8 St. Mary's St., some 50 yards away from the intersection of St. Mary's and Commonwealth Avenue, the latter of which runs down the center of the B.U campus. Adjacent to this intersection is the B.U. Central subway stop, and the subway is one of our recommended routes to the workshop (details below).

On the day of the workshop, freshmen will be moving into campus dorms, so parking will be at a premium. Therefore, we recommend the use of taxis or public transportation to get to and from the workshop. A taxi from SIGCOMM hotels to B.U. will run about $10, while a taxi from the airport will be approximately $20. The subway is another convenient and inexpensive ($.85) option as the Photonics Center is 50 yards from the B.U. Central T stop on the green line B subway. (The B line terminates at Boston College, which is distinct from Boston University -- check your stops carefully!) From SIGCOMM hotels, take the red line inbound from Harvard Square, then transfer at Park Street to the outbound B green line (30-35 mins). From the airport, take the shuttle bus to the subway, then take the blue line inbound and transfer at Government Center to the B green line (35 mins).

If you plan to drive, please check the following URL for directions: http://www.bu.edu/admissions/visit/campus/directns.html

There are a number of parking lots near the Photonics center on Commonwealth Avenue which cost between $6 and $12 per day. As mentioned above, these will fill up earlier in the day than usual on Monday.

All other questions concerning local arrangements should be directed to Paul Barford at barford@bu.edu.

Registration

To register for the workshop, please complete the information below and email it to Michael Mitzenmacher at (michaelm@deas.harvard.edu). 
Registration Information

  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 (michaelm@deas.harvard.edu).

Workshop Organizing Committee

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


Created on: 1999.07.01
Updated on: 1999.08.26