Teaching networking hardware

ABSTRACT

We present our experience with the design and teaching of a graduate-level networking hardware course in which students design and build an Internet router. Each team of two students (one proficient in hardware and one proficient in software) design and develop a fully functional router that routes live Internet traffic and inter-operates with other students' routers via a simple routing protocol. Hardware is designed in Verilog using an industry-standard design flow on a specially designed platform, called NetFPGA. Software is written in user-space using a high-level language. Software and hardware are combined and tested using real network traffic over arbitrary private topologies using a custom tool, called VNS. Our approach is distinguished in that both hardware and software can be designed, tested and deployed remotely over the Internet. Our goal is to give students experience in the design of complex networking systems. In our initial course offering in Spring 2004, all teams successfully implemented fully functional routers in less than ten weeks. We will pilot courses outside of Stanford using the remote teaching infrastructure presented in this paper.

REFERENCES

• 1: lwip - a lightweight tcp/ip stack. www.sics.se/ adam/lwip/.
• 2: Xorp the extensible open router platform. http://www.xorp.org/.
• 3: Noël Davis , Scot Ransbottom , Drew Hamilton, Teaching computer networks through modeling, ACM SIGAda Ada Letters, v.XVIII n.5, p.104-110, Sept./Oct. 1998 [doi>10.1145/291712.291758]
• 4: M. W. Dixon and T. W. Koziniec. Using opnet to enhance student learning in a data communication course. IS2002 Proceedings of the Informing Science + IT Education Conference, pages 0349--0355, July 2002.
• 5: Enrico Carniani , Renzo Davoli, The NetWire emulator: a tool for teaching and understanding networks, ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, v.33 n.3, p.153-156, Sept. 2001
• 6: Jean Mayo , Phil Kearns, A secure unrestricted advanced systems laboratory, The proceedings of the thirtieth SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education, p.165-169, March 24-28, 1999, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.3 COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION
      K.3.2 Computer and Information Science Education
          Subjects: Computer science education

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.2 COMPUTER-COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
      C.2.1 Network Architecture and Design
          Subjects: Packet-switching networks; Network communications

General Terms:
Design, Experimentation

Keywords:
network internals, network project, pedagogy