trunk/Resume/Graduate.mdwn

Sept '06-Present &mdash; Master's of Computing Science, [Simon Fraser University](http://www.sfu.ca/), Burnaby, B.C.

* supervisor: [Jiangchuan Liu](http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~jcliu/)
* group: [Multimedia and Wireless Netowrking](http://netsg.cs.sfu.ca/)
* studying networking, in particual peer-to-peer networking and video streaming
* cumulative GPA of 4.13

----

I began work on a Master's in Computing Science (thesis option) at Simon Fraser University in 
September of 2006. This is a change from my [[undergraduate work|Undergrad]], in which my major 
was in Physics, though I did minor in Computing Science.

I chose Networking as the main area for my research, and further decided to focus on 
peer-to-peer networking. This has led me to choose Dr. Jiangchuan Liu as my supervisor, as he has 
contributed a lot of reasearch in this area, including the introduction of 
[CoolStreaming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoolStreaming).

My work is partially funded by an
[NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship M](http://www.nserc.ca/sf_e.asp?nav=sfnav&lbi=2a),
which I was awarded in March of 2007.

#### Research

My current research is focussing mainly on [BitTorrent](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittorrent).
One aspect I have studied is the effectiveness of the
[*rarest-first* policy](http://wiki.theory.org/Availability) to evenly distribute 
pieces of the download throughout the peers. I have found that the policy is mostly effective at 
maintaining a near-optimal piece population distribution, though there are some areas for 
improvement.

Using this work, I am currently working on a design for a new BitTorrent client that will 
maintain the interoperability with all current clients, but will allow for the download to be 
streamed to the user sequentially instead of the somewhat-random download that currently occurs. 
This will require modifying the rarest-first policy to order the downloaded pieces sequentially 
if the swarm can support it. While it is important to satisfy the user who is viewing the 
streaming media, the most important consideration is to not sabotage the BitTorrent swarm through 
the violation of the rarest-first policy.

I have also examined the different graph networks formed between nodes in a BitTorrent swarm. 
Some of the networks I have found to have
[small-world characteristics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-world_network), while others exhibit 
only [scale-free behaviour](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale-free_network). These results 
indicate the effectiveness of the BitTorrent protocol at 
distributing the download to peers, and the resilience of the swarm to the failures and 
departures that are common in all peer-to-peer networking scenarios.

To simulate and measure BitTorrent swarms, I have been able to use the 
[PlanetLab](http://www.planet-lab.org/) network, a global co-operative research network in over  
300 locations around the world that supports the development of new network services. For more 
information on this research, see my [[PlanetLab]] page.

In collaboration with another student, [Xu Cheng](http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~xuc/personal/), we have 
studied the video sharing site [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com). This new type of video 
distribution has not seen much research yet, and we find some interesting differences between it 
and traditional video distribution. My work focussed mostly on the social networking aspect of 
YouTube, which is unique to YouTube. The results showed that YouTube videos form a
[small-world network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-world_network), which suggests that 
videos are strongly correlated with each other, which can be used to develop interesting caching 
or peer-to-peer distribution strategies for them.

#### Publications

The following papers have been submitted and accepted to conferences:

* "A Measurement Study of Piece Population in BitTorrent"
    * Authors: **Cameron Dale**, Jiangchuan Liu
    * Accepted To: IEEE Globecom, Washington, DC, USA, November 26-30, 2007
    * File: [PDF, 68 KB](pieces.pdf)

The following papers have been submitted to conferences:

* "Understanding the Characteristics of Internet Short Video Sharing: YouTube as a Case Study"
    * Authors: Xu Cheng, **Cameron Dale**, Jiangchuan Liu
    * Submitted To: IEEE Infocom, 2008
    * File: [PDF, 960 KB](youtube.pdf)

* "On the Network Topologies Formed in BitTorrent Downloads"
    * Authors: **Cameron Dale**, Jiangchuan Liu, Bo Li
    * Submitted To: IEEE Infocom, 2008
    * File: [PDF, 113 KB](btnetworks.pdf)


#### List of Courses Completed

<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
  <tr>
    <th>Discipline</th>
    <th>Number</th>
    <th>Course Name</th>
    <th>Grade</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Computing Science</td>
    <td>705</td>
    <td>Design and Analysis of Computing Algorithms</td>
    <td>A</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Computing Science</td>
    <td>740</td>
    <td>Database Systems</td>
    <td>A-</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Computing Science</td>
    <td>765</td>
    <td>Computer Networks</td>
    <td>A+</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Computing Science</td>
    <td>816</td>
    <td>Theory of Communication Networks</td>
    <td>A+</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Computing Science</td>
    <td>880</td>
    <td>Special Topics: Multimedia & Sensor Networking</td>
    <td>A+</td>
  </tr>
</table>
1	camrdale	17	Sept '06-Present — Master's of Computing Science, [Simon Fraser University](http://www.sfu.ca/), Burnaby, B.C.
2
3			* supervisor: [Jiangchuan Liu](http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~jcliu/)
4			* group: [Multimedia and Wireless Netowrking](http://netsg.cs.sfu.ca/)
5	camrdale	78	* studying networking, in particual peer-to-peer networking and video streaming
6			* cumulative GPA of 4.13
7	camrdale	17
8			----
9
10	camrdale	78	I began work on a Master's in Computing Science (thesis option) at Simon Fraser University in
11			September of 2006. This is a change from my [[undergraduate work\|Undergrad]], in which my major
12			was in Physics, though I did minor in Computing Science.
13	camrdale	17
14	camrdale	78	I chose Networking as the main area for my research, and further decided to focus on
15			peer-to-peer networking. This has led me to choose Dr. Jiangchuan Liu as my supervisor, as he has
16			contributed a lot of reasearch in this area, including the introduction of
17			[CoolStreaming](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CoolStreaming).
18	camrdale	17
19	camrdale	78	My work is partially funded by an
20			[NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship M](http://www.nserc.ca/sf_e.asp?nav=sfnav&lbi=2a),
21			which I was awarded in March of 2007.
22	camrdale	17
23	camrdale	78	#### Research
24	camrdale	17
25	camrdale	78	My current research is focussing mainly on [BitTorrent](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bittorrent).
26			One aspect I have studied is the effectiveness of the
27			[rarest-first policy](http://wiki.theory.org/Availability) to evenly distribute
28			pieces of the download throughout the peers. I have found that the policy is mostly effective at
29			maintaining a near-optimal piece population distribution, though there are some areas for
30			improvement.
31
32			Using this work, I am currently working on a design for a new BitTorrent client that will
33			maintain the interoperability with all current clients, but will allow for the download to be
34			streamed to the user sequentially instead of the somewhat-random download that currently occurs.
35			This will require modifying the rarest-first policy to order the downloaded pieces sequentially
36			if the swarm can support it. While it is important to satisfy the user who is viewing the
37			streaming media, the most important consideration is to not sabotage the BitTorrent swarm through
38			the violation of the rarest-first policy.
39
40			I have also examined the different graph networks formed between nodes in a BitTorrent swarm.
41			Some of the networks I have found to have
42			[small-world characteristics](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-world_network), while others exhibit
43			only [scale-free behaviour](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale-free_network). These results
44			indicate the effectiveness of the BitTorrent protocol at
45			distributing the download to peers, and the resilience of the swarm to the failures and
46			departures that are common in all peer-to-peer networking scenarios.
47
48			To simulate and measure BitTorrent swarms, I have been able to use the
49			[PlanetLab](http://www.planet-lab.org/) network, a global co-operative research network in over
50			300 locations around the world that supports the development of new network services. For more
51			information on this research, see my [[PlanetLab]] page.
52
53			In collaboration with another student, [Xu Cheng](http://www.cs.sfu.ca/~xuc/personal/), we have
54			studied the video sharing site [YouTube](http://www.youtube.com). This new type of video
55			distribution has not seen much research yet, and we find some interesting differences between it
56			and traditional video distribution. My work focussed mostly on the social networking aspect of
57			YouTube, which is unique to YouTube. The results showed that YouTube videos form a
58			[small-world network](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-world_network), which suggests that
59			videos are strongly correlated with each other, which can be used to develop interesting caching
60			or peer-to-peer distribution strategies for them.
61
62			#### Publications
63
64			The following papers have been submitted and accepted to conferences:
65
66			* "A Measurement Study of Piece Population in BitTorrent"
67			* Authors: Cameron Dale, Jiangchuan Liu
68			* Accepted To: IEEE Globecom, Washington, DC, USA, November 26-30, 2007
69			* File: [PDF, 68 KB](pieces.pdf)
70
71			The following papers have been submitted to conferences:
72
73			* "Understanding the Characteristics of Internet Short Video Sharing: YouTube as a Case Study"
74			* Authors: Xu Cheng, Cameron Dale, Jiangchuan Liu
75			* Submitted To: IEEE Infocom, 2008
76			* File: [PDF, 960 KB](youtube.pdf)
77
78			* "On the Network Topologies Formed in BitTorrent Downloads"
79			* Authors: Cameron Dale, Jiangchuan Liu, Bo Li
80			* Submitted To: IEEE Infocom, 2008
81			* File: [PDF, 113 KB](btnetworks.pdf)
82
83
84			#### List of Courses Completed
85
86	camrdale	17	<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
87			<tr>
88			<th>Discipline</th>
89			<th>Number</th>
90			<th>Course Name</th>
91			<th>Grade</th>
92			</tr>
93			<tr>
94			<td>Computing Science</td>
95			<td>705</td>
96			<td>Design and Analysis of Computing Algorithms</td>
97			<td>A</td>
98			</tr>
99			<tr>
100			<td>Computing Science</td>
101			<td>740</td>
102			<td>Database Systems</td>
103	camrdale	78	<td>A-</td>
104	camrdale	17	</tr>
105			<tr>
106			<td>Computing Science</td>
107			<td>765</td>
108			<td>Computer Networks</td>
109	camrdale	18	<td>A+</td>
110	camrdale	17	</tr>
111			<tr>
112			<td>Computing Science</td>
113			<td>816</td>
114			<td>Theory of Communication Networks</td>
115	camrdale	78	<td>A+</td>
116	camrdale	17	</tr>
117			<tr>
118			<td>Computing Science</td>
119			<td>880</td>
120			<td>Special Topics: Multimedia & Sensor Networking</td>
121			<td>A+</td>
122			</tr>
123			</table>