6G7V0029 Advanced Computer Networks Assignment Coversheet 1CWK80 2025/26 | MMU

Assessment Cover Sheet 2025/26

Learning outcomes being assessed:

LO1: Describe the architecture, protocols, and fundamental principles of emerging and future network technologies.
LO2: Build the working knowledge of various networking technologies' building blocks so that they can be applied to solve the problems of designing distributed systems over wired, wireless, and virtual networks. 
LO3: Research and critically analyse the capabilities, limitations, security, and applications of emerging networking technologies.
LO4: Apply a wide range of transferable skills and attributes applicable to industry, research, and development projects.

Note: it is your responsibility to make sure that your work is complete and available for marking by the deadline.  Make sure that you have followed the submission instructions carefully, and that your work is submitted in the correct format, using the correct hand-in mechanism (e.g., Moodle upload).  If submitting via Moodle, you are advised to check your work after upload, to make sure it has uploaded properly. If submitting via OneDrive, ensure that your tutors have access to the work. Do not alter your work after the deadline.  You should make at least one full backup copy of your work. 

Penalties for late submission

The timeliness of submissions is strictly monitored and enforced. 
All coursework has a late submission window of 7 calendar days, but any work submitted within the late window will be capped at 50% unless you have an agreed extension.  Work submitted after the 7-day late window will be capped at zero unless you have an agreed extension.  See ‘Assessment Mitigation’ below for further information on extensions.
Please note that individual tutors are unable to grant any extensions to assessments.

Assessment Mitigation

If there is a valid reason why you are unable to submit your assessment by the deadline you may apply for Assessment Mitigation. There are two types of mitigation you can apply for via the module area on Moodle (in the ‘Assessments’ block on the right-hand side of the page):

• Non-evidenced extension: does not require you to submit evidence. It allows you to add a short extension to a deadline. This is not available for event-based assessments such as in-class tests, presentations, interviews, etc. You can apply for this extension during the assessment weeks, and the request must be made before the submission deadline. For this assessment, the self-certification extension is 2 days.
• Evidenced extension: requires you to provide independent evidence of a situation which has impacted you. Allows you to apply for a longer extension and is available for event-based assessments such as in-class tests, presentations, interviews, etc.  For event-based assessments, the normal outcome is that the assessment will be deferred to the summer reassessment period.

Further information about Assessment Mitigation is available on the dedicated Assessments page.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the unacknowledged representation of another person’s work, or use of their ideas, as one’s own. Manchester Metropolitan University takes care to detect plagiarism, employs plagiarism detection software, and imposes severe penalties, as outlined in the Student Code of Conduct and Academic Misconduct Policy. Poor referencing or submitting the wrong assignment may still be treated as plagiarism. If in doubt, seek advice from your tutor. 

As part of a plagiarism check, you may be asked to attend a meeting with the Module Leader, or another member of the module delivery team, where you will be asked to explain your work (e.g. explain the code in a programming assignment).  If you are called to one of these meetings, it is very important that you attend.

1.Task Description

Your task is to work in pairs (maximum 5), or individually (in exceptional circumstances only), to write a survey paper that explores and critically analyses the state of the art currently being carried out in a specific area of advanced computer networks.

According to ACM Computing Surveys, a survey paper is defined as "A paper that summarises and organises recent research results in a novel way that integrates and adds understanding to work in the field. A survey article assumes that the reader has a general knowledge of the area; it emphasises the classification of the existing literature, developing a perspective on the area, and evaluating trends."

The survey paper should have the following structure:

• Title: Indicates accurately the subject and scope of the study.
• Authors: Names and affiliation.
• Abstract: A concise description of your research article.
• Introduction: Describes the scope, context, motivation, and significance of the research topic/ problem by summarising current understanding and background information about the topic/problem. It is expected that this section clearly states the aim of the conducted work in the form of the research question/problem supported by a hypothesis, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine it, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure and organisation of the paper.
• Survey body:

o Critical Analysis: Your critical analysis of the research in the studied topic/problem including the proposed new original classification and comparison of the reviewed papers. In addition, an overview of the major limitations identified and recommendations for future directions are expected.
o Proposal/Research Challenges: Pick one of the identified limitations in the reviewed works and propose an original idea (or at least an idea inspired by the limitation of the studied work) to solve it. Alternatively, you can also highlight a new issue that has not been addressed/discovered in the literature yet and explain why addressing this issue is important.
o Evaluation (Experimentation/Simulation) Tools: Brief details about various evaluation tools, including experimentation, simulation, or emulation tools, which are available, and pertinent to the selected survey topic, to evaluate networking performance. Alternatively, you may discuss the implementation details provided by the authors in the technical research paper you critically reviewed.

• Conclusion: A summary of your points or a re-statement of your research problem and synthesis of key points.
• References: The sources of information used in your article.

You are expected to cover technical papers in the survey body. The exact number of technical papers covered in the survey body section depends on the group size. Each member must write a critical analysis of at least one technical paper, provide one novel solution/research challenge and cover brief details about one experimentation tool/details. Detailed guidance on critically reading a technical paper will be provided in the first two lab sessions under the “Research & Learning Focused” module.

2. Choosing a Topic

You are required to pick a specific area of research in advanced computer networks to investigate in your survey paper. 

The topics to choose from are:

• Next Generation Wireless Network
• 5G and onwards to 6G
• Information-Centric Networking
• Networking Support for AR/VR/Metaverse-based applications
• Vehicular networks (aka VANETs, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles - CAVs)
• Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs, aka Drones)
• Internet of Things (IoT) from a Network perspective
• Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)
• Software Defined Networks (SDN)
• Network Functions Virtualization (NFV)
• Edge Computing
• Edge Intelligence 
• Network Softwarisation and Virtualization
• Net Zero Networking
• Artificial Intelligence enabled/enhanced Networks
• Satellite and Space Communications
• Quantum networks and communication
• Tactile internet
• Security and privacy issues in any of the above communication technologies

If you wish, you may choose another emerging topic in advanced computer networks, but you must
get approval from Muhammad Atif Ur Rehman first.

When selecting a topic, you will need to consider its scope carefully. Choosing too narrow in scope will make it difficult to find a sufficient range of quality and recent papers on the topic while choosing too wide a scope will make it difficult to provide adequate coverage of the related research within the space limit given. You might find, during your research, that you need to broaden or narrow the topic that you have chosen – you should discuss this with Muhammad Atif Ur Rehman if needed.

3.Your Paper

Your paper should provide a survey of state-of-the-art research on the topic of your choice. Your work should be appropriately referenced, using the IEEE referencing style. Feedback and answers to potential questions will be provided at the end of the weekly lab sessions on the development and structure of your paper, and a draft should be prepared for formative feedback during the coursework support sessions.
Your paper must be 4-5 pages long (no less than 4 and no longer than 5) in IEEE double-column format, including any figures/tables, and bibliography. This type of instruction is typical for the submission of research papers to academic and professional workshops and conferences, rather than a word limit specification.

Your survey should cover research published in the last five years, preferably in the last three years. Older publications are generally only accepted in sections other than the survey body.

4. Submission instructions

The deadline for submission of your survey paper is mentioned on the Moodle submission portal. You must submit your paper (in PDF format only) via the appropriate links on Moodle. The deadline is a hard deadline unless you have applied for a self-certified extension or if you have an exceptional factors application approved. 

All students must upload PDF, PowerPoint slides, and presentation videos individually (even if you are working in a group) on Moodle. Failure to do so will result in 0 marks.

5.References

IEEE Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings. [Online][Accessed 13 September 2024] Manuscript Templates for Conference Proceedings

6.Marking

Your work will be assessed based on the 6 sections/Tasks below: