Exploring research issues in mobile computing, understanding impacts of constraints and demands of mobility. Examples include network protocols, power management, user interfaces, file access, ergonomics, and security. Topics discussed will be ones where there is little consensus in the research community on the best approaches, also offering significant hands-on experience.

Syllabus

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~15-821/

Class format

Lecture and project-based

Home department

INI

Target audience

CS, ECE, and INI MS/Ph.D. students.

Background required

Students with good backgrounds in operating systems, distributed systems, and computer architecture will find that this course builds naturally on their knowledge base. Without these prerequisites, the course may still be accessible to a student who is willing to put in additional effort.

Learning objectives

This course aims to impart conceptual knowledge, hands-on experience and industry context. A set of course readings gives students conceptual knowledge on key topics in mobile and pervasive computing. A substantial implementation project (roughly 50% of the course credit) gives hands-on experience. Commercial scans that are researched and presented by the students helps them to learn about the relevant state of the art in industry, and to see how commercial practice diverges from academic research. Research paper presentations give students exposure to tasteful choice of research problems, and to extracting key concepts from the published literature.