CSC 237    Assignment 1    Part 1

Due on: Tu 25 April, at the beginning of the class

        A.  Do a case-study steps (pp 22-25) as we did in class.
We want to compare two multicast routing algorithms.
        Multicast routing: given a source and a set of destinations find
the minimum cost tree that connects the source to the destinations.
Minimum cost tree: the sum of the cost of each edge of the tree.
The cost of an edge for a connection is a function of the bandwidth it uses.

        In this case, we want to compare two routing algorithms a Greedy and
a Stupid.  We do not care how these algorithms work. Al we know is that
given a weighted graph, a source and destinations, they produce a multicast tree.
The algorithms are approximations of the optimal tree that the Optimal algorithm
produces.

        The end goal is to accomodate as many multicast connections
as  possible.  However, we may want to transform this problem in a way
that our algorithms can function: we need to assign cost on each edge so that our algorithms can produce a tree.

 We are also interested in the distance of a destination
from its source counted as the length of the path on the multicast tree.
You can also think of other metrics that could be of interest.  You can include a couple
explaining your choice (ie fault tolerance, speed of the algorithm etc)

        (Approx. lentgh: 2-4 pages)

     B.  Assuming that you are creating a simulator for the evaluation,
show the architecture of the simulator, the functions that you want to implement, as we did in class.
        Do 3 levels of detail, which should correspond to a specification where a programmer could use as specification.
        Also propose a simulation language that we would use if you had to develop the
software.

       (Aprox. length 1-3 pages)

        Note: this is a fairly general open ended assignment. There are many ways you can
proceed.
        Try to get interested in the problem and do a nice report. Don't have grades in your mind.  Life is to short to waste it worrying for grades.

        The assignments should be done in pairs.  If you do not have a pair, contact me.