Call for Papers

Two years ago, the Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB) of the National Research Council took a first exploratory examination of what the field of networking research might become in Looking Over the Fence at Networks: A Neighbor's View of Networking Research. This workshop is intended to be the next step in that process, beginning to take a more organized look. Not only is it valuable to consider specific directions that research might move, but we also expect to explore "meta-level" issues, such as the nature of our field, how it relates to others and how we evaluate new research.

Position papers might take one of a number of possible approaches. An inward looking approach to this problem is to consider broad directions or dimensions in which there is significant deep research still needed. Two such dimensions could be what we are beginning to call the "science" of networking and new visions of network architecture. In each dimension there will be influences on that dimension. For example, particular technological ideas (e.g. sensor nets or optical technologies) may force us to rethink our approaches to either the science or architecture. Mathematical tools may directly affect science, but may also enable architectural possibilities indirectly. Massive archiving or documentation of network behaviors again may have strong influences on what and how researchers pursue the science of networking, but also influence architecture both to collect such data continuously and also to incorporate it effectively into operation. Position papers might consider these or alternative dimensions to the question.

A more outward looking approach might consider questions about how networking research relates to either other disciplines or reality. One might consider the extent to which the research agenda should be either integrated with or influenced by other fields of computer science, non-computer science endeavors, or commercial endeavors. A thoughtful exploration of the relationship between leading network research and the real world may be important as well.

A third, more abstract set of questions, revolve around the nature of networking research, the extent to which it should be treated as an engineering field, a science, social science, or some sort of art form. This may also lead to questions of how the research or the succession of topics proceeds and how the research is evaluated.

Position papers are sought on the sorts of questions raised above or related questions. Participation in this workshop will be by invitation based heavily on position papers. Participation will be largely through discussion on selected topics, rather than necessarily presentation of the material in the accepted position papers. The agenda will also include a discussion of how best to proceed further and open the topic to the broader community. Initially, the position papers will be distributed only among the participants, although they may be appended to the final report as well. A final report will be published in CCR. We are also exploring other venues for distribution of the report. Whether the position papers will be included in the CCR version is still under discussion.

What and how to submit

Position papers should be no longer than 5 pages, 8.5" x 11", with 1" margins, no smaller than 10 pt. font in postscript or PDF. They should be emailed to nreds-submit@ana.lcs.mit.edu.

Important Dates

Organizers

• Mark Allman, BBN Technologies
• Balaji Prabhakar, Stanford University
• Stefan Savage, University of California San Diego
• Karen Sollins, MIT, chair