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Error processing SSI file			New Networking Curriculum Introduced Around the Globe Dr. Doug Comer reviews the networking and network processor curriculum with university faculty. At a curriculum development workshop in Beijing in August, Intel and Purdue University's Douglas Comer unveiled the new networking and network processor curriculum and presented the first textbook on the subject to workshop attendees. Curriculum materials, based on Comer's college textbook, Network System Design Using Network Processors, cover the basics of computer networking, including how information is broken into packets and forwarded across the Internet, as well as the "how-to" of building routers using network processors. It also incorporates designs for laboratory experiments to be conducted by students. Materials are divided into the following sections: Course Material (lessons for use in a networking class) Labs (experiments for use in the class) Setup (instructions for setting up the environment) Resources (recommended books) Additional Information (links for help, mailing lists, and general IXP-related information) These materials, including the new textbook, were the result of collaboration between Intel and the Purdue University professor over the past two years. Hugh Boyd, university relations manager for Intel, says he and Rob Ibieta, manager of the Intel® Internet Exchange Architecture (IXA) University Program, combined forces and funds to make the project happen. They agreed that Comer was the obvious choice for key developer. "Dr. Comer is viewed as an international expert on networking," explains Boyd, "and had the top-selling textbook." "I was very honored," says Comer, "when Intel asked me to consider writing a textbook for a network processor course. They told me the selection was made on the basis of my previous books." University faculty and international experts on networking attend Intel's third Internet Exchange Architecture workshop in Beijing. Intel provided equipment for the Purdue lab and supplied a grant that allowed Comer and his team of graduate students to delve into the time-consuming task of conducting research and writing programs. In developing the curriculum and writing the textbook, Comer says he also drew on his years of experience teaching a series of courses on network processors at both the graduate and undergraduate levels. Of the final curriculum, Boyd says, "Doug provided 90 percent of the content. The balance came from Intel and a small part from Portland State University," located in Oregon. At the China workshop, Comer delivered the keynote speech on network processors. "Although some electrical engineering courses will focus on how to design the network processor itself, computer science should focus on [how to use] network processors." He adds, "The talk described the organization and content for both graduate and undergraduate courses, and the importance of lab facilities to support each course." Comer also delivered a speech at Tsing Hua University, "the number one school in China," where he gave a general overview of network processor technology. Twenty-eight faculty members from 13 universities and six "international experts" attended the third Internet Exchange Architecture workshop in Beijing, reports Intel's Jeffry Cao of Intel, and both the curriculum and Comer's speech were "warmly welcomed" with high feedback scores. "The people I met in China are incredibly enthusiastic," Comer says. "They want to learn, and they see high technology as a way for China to move to the forefront. I met professors from leading universities who were excited about new technologies and eager to learn how to integrate them into a networking curriculum." Comer says several professors told him they especially liked one of the points he made in his speech, when he discussed the importance of lab work in the classroom. "A problem arises because students begin the course with no knowledge of network processors," he explains, "so the question becomes: 'Must we postpone all lab work until late in the course after students have learned all the basics?' My answer: 'No, we can build a simplified application program interface (API) that allows students to start programming on day one.' Of course, the simplified API hides many of the low-level details, which means early labs focus students on high-level algorithms such as Ethernet bridging. Later in the course, as students learn more about network processors, we take away the simplified API and require them to write the low-level pieces." The curriculum also was introduced in Russia in October, and there are plans to introduce it worldwide in the coming months. The open source curriculum is being delivered via CD to interested schools in the Intel Worldwide Higher Education program. In the future, Boyd says, the content may be available on a publicly accessible Web site. The Networking and Network Processor Curriculum project helps Intel meet its goal of accelerating the advancement of curricula to meet rapid technology advances, and is one of many ways that Intel supports higher education initiatives throughout China and the world.
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