Elec 528: Network Processor System Design

Elec 528
Network Processor System Design

Instructor

Adjunct Professor Steve Sheafor
Office: 2029 Duncan Hall
Office Hours: by appointment (see schedule below)

The course will be taught by Dr. Steve Sheafor. Dr. Sheafor graduated from Rice (BA/MEE 1972) and received a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois in 1974. He initially worked for Hewlett Packard and then founded two startup companies: Cornerstone Technology, which had its IPO in 1993; and Sitera, one of the first Network Processor startups which was acquired by Vitesse Semiconductor in 2000. In each company he was VP of Engineering, Chief Technical Officer and Director. Dr. Sheafor was Entrepreneur of the Year in Boulder, Colorado in 2000 and serves on the Board of Directors of the Rice Alliance for Entrepreneurship. Dr. Sheafor can be reached by Email at:

Steve.Sheafor@alumni.rice.edu

And by telephone at:

Home: (303)-415-9569
Cell: (303)-819-3095
Office: (713)-348-4104

Course Description

This course consists of a project in which students will implement a network switch/router on a Network Processor (NPU) simulation system. The switch/router will be coded in NPU assembly language. Phases of the project will include: basic NPU architecture, Layer 2 switching algorithms, IP Routing algorithms, route table management, other extensions to a switch/router, optimization and filtering. The switch/router will be implemented by teams of two students.

The course is intended for Seniors with a networking background and graduate students. It is designed to require intensive work in the first few weeks, and will be completed by March 25. Classes will be held in the evenings (7:00 to 9:00 or 7:30 to 9:30 PM) and the course will be limited to no more than 12 students.

PREREQUISITES

Students will implement the switch router in teams of two. Within each team, at least one member should have completed, or be enrolled in ELEC 429 or an equivalent Networking protocol course. At least one member should have completed a Computer Architecture course such as ELEC 320. Preference will be given to students who meet both requirements.

CREDITS

Students will receive 3 credits.

ACCEPTANCE

If more than 12 students register for this course, the 12 accepted will be selected by the Instructor at the end of the second session (1/14). Students are requested to register for the course as early as possible.

Teaching Assistants

Jyoti Uppuluri ()
Joshua Robinson ()

Textbooks

The course will not require a specific textbook. Networking terminology will follow that of the textbook used most recently for Elec429 - Computer Networking by Kurose and Ross. The Network Processor used in the course will be the Vitesse IQ2000, and complete documentation for it will be provided. The processor is based on the MIPS-32 architecture. On-line documentation may be accessed at www.mips.com/publications/processor_architecture.html. See Volumes I and II of the MIPS-32 documentation. You will need to register with MIPS to access this information. Any commercial MIPS programmer's reference will also be adequate.

Times

Monday 1/13 7-9 PM
Tuesday 1/14 7:30-9:30 PM
Tuesday 1/21 7:30-9:30 PM
Wednesday 1/22 7-9 PM (Location DH 1075)
Monday 2/3 7-9 PM
Monday 2/17 7-9 PM
Monday 3/3 7-9 PM
Monday 3/17 7-9 PM
Monday 3/24 7-9 PM
Monday 3/31 7-9 PM

Place

Symonds Lab II

Symonds II is the multimedia lab on the side of Duncan Hall towards the quadrangle. Symonds is on the first floor, and the entrance is from the outside, in the hall next to Duncan.
Students must have Owlnet accounts in order to use the computers in Symonds II. To create an account, go to apply.rice.edu , click "Click here to continue", select "Apply for a new account" on the left side, and follow the instructions. Once you receive notification that your account has been created (which may take several hours), you will need to return to this page and select "Create or change a PC password" and follow those instructions.

Note that the class on January 22 will be held in Room 1075, Duncan Hall due to a conflict in the Symonds II lab.

Office Hours

I will be available to schedule appointments at the following times, which will be periodically updated. Please contact me via phone or EMail to schedule an appointment. Note that I will not necessarily be in my office at these times if there are no appointments scheduled.

Monday, March 17 - 3:00 to 5:00
Tuesday, March 18 - 10:00 to 12:00, 1:00 to 3:00
Monday, March 24 - 3:00 to 5:00
Tuesday, March 25 - 10:00 to 12:00, 1:00 to 3:00