CS 5513 Fall 2009, Proposal
Due at the beginning of class, October 15, 2009.
Write a proposal for your class project. You may work in groups of up
to four people, or you may work individually. Each group will submit one
proposal document. Choose a topic from a prepared
list of projects, or, if you like, identify a topic of your choosing
and discuss it with the professor. If your topic isn't on the prepared
list, you must discuss it with the professor before the proposal is due.
The proposal will be an informal document (as opposed to a research paper)
describing the project. The proposal should answer the following questions:
- Who are the members of your group? How will the work be divided
among you?
- What is the subject you are researching? Give a detailed introduction
to the subject, with references to relevant literature. Assume the reader
has only basic knowledge of computer architecture, and bring the reader
up to speed with the state of the art as it relates to your project.
- What is the motivation for the project? Why should it be
interesting to the class? Provide evidence for the motivation.
Cite at least three conference, workshop, or journal papers that
motivate your project. Since we are studying computer architecture,
your proposal must cite at least one paper from the proceedings
of the International Symposium on Computer Architecture (ISCA)
that directly relates to the subject. You can find ISCA proceedings
on-line at the ACM digital library.
- What is the goal of the project? When we read your final writeup,
what might we learn? Are you doing something totally new, or are you
reproducing someone else's work in a different setting?
- What methodology will you use to do the project? Describe the
experiments, if any, you plan to perform. List any tools you will be using,
e.g., simulators, compilers, VLSI tools, etc.
- What preliminary results do you have? Describe results you have
already, and how they might support your research goals for the rest of
the project.
Don't write the proposal with headings like What is the subject you
are researching?. Choose your own organization for the material.
You may want to model your proposal after a research paper you have read.
Even though this assignment is described as an informal document, you must
still pay attention to spelling and grammar. Don't hand-write your proposal;
use a word processor or editor.
Important: All of the words in your proposal must be yours, with the
exception of very short passages from relevant literature. Such passages
must be given proper credit with a citation. You mustn't copy or even
paraphrase from other sources and present the text as your own.
Hint: If you decide to work in a group, choose the members wisely.
You may end up in a group of slackers where you have to do all the work.
If you are a slacker yourself, you may end up in a group composed of other
slackers and no one will get any work done.