Program Overview

CS 528, Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing Class, Spring 2015

Course Overview

The goal of this class is to acquaint participants with some of the fundamental concepts and state-of-the-art research in the areas of mobile computing, wireless networking, and ubiquitous computing. Focus will be on the computer science issues in mobile computing. This semester's class will focus on emerging mobile and ubiquitous computing ideas that are implemented on Android smartphones. The course will consist of assigned projects, including Android app programming projects, student presentations, discussions, and a final project. There will be no exams or quizzes.

Prerequisites

• CS 502 or an equivalent graduate-level course in Operating Systems
• CS 513 or an equivalent graduate-level course in Computer Networks
• Proficiency in a high-level programming language
• Knowledge of or willingness to learn Java is a plus, as this semester's class focuses on programming Android applications, which is Java-based

Course Structure

• For the first 6 weeks, the instructor will present mobile and ubiquitous course concepts and definitions and introduce Android programming.
• In those 6 weeks, 3 projects will be assigned to students.
• In weeks 7-8, students will present papers from a list of papers, which should help in generating final project ideas.
• Students will be graded on the quality of their presentations.
• Students will also work in teams to brainstorm final project ideas, which they will present in week 9.
• In weeks 10-13, students will work on their final project and present more papers.
• The course timeline is summarized below:
  • Week 1: Course Introduction, Android Introduction, and Setup
  • Week 2: Android UI Design and App Life Cycle
  • Week 3: Threads, Saving Data, Services, and Broadcast Receivers
  • Week 4: Maps, Location Services, Audio, Video, and Camera
  • Week 5: Telephony, SMS, Power Management, and Selected Topics
  • Week 6: Sensor Management and Activity Recognition
  • Weeks 7-8: Students present papers
  • Week 9: Student proposes projects + Discussions
  • Weeks 10-13: Students work on final projects, present more papers
  • Week 14: Final project presentation and submissions

General Information

• Class: Tuesdays, 6 pm - 8:50 pm, FL 311
• Instructor: Prof. Emmanuel Agu
• Office Hours: Tuesday 5:00 PM - 6:00 PM; Others by appointment
• Required Text:
  • The Busy Coder's Guide to Android Development (Version 6.3) by Mark L. Murphy
• Supplemental Texts:
  • Android Programming: The Big Nerd Ranch, Bill Phillips and Brian Hardy, 2013
  • Introduction to Android Application Development: Android Essentials, Joseph Annuzzi Jr, Lauren Darcey, and Shane Conder
  • Ubiquitous Computing Fundamentals, John Krumm, CRC Press, 2010

Grading Policy

• Presentation(s): 15%
• Class participation: 5%
• Assigned Projects: 25%
• Final project: 40%
• Summaries: 15%

Assigned Projects

• Android Setup and Practice
• Designing Android Screens (Layouts, Views, and Widgets)
• Exploring the Android Camera and Images
• Stepping out with Android Sensors

Deadlines

• Pick partner or decide to go alone, and decide project area: March 17
• Propose project (submit introduction, related work, and approach): March 31
• Mid-project update: April 21
• Final presentations: May 5

Paper Topics

• Application Areas: Health and Personal Assistants
• Web and Multimedia (Video and Images)
• Mobile social networking & crowd sensing
• Location-Aware Computing and Proximity
• Human Activity and Emotion Sensing
• Sensor processing, Context Awareness, and Inference
• Input Devices and Mobile HCI
• Mobile/wireless measurement and characterization
• Energy Efficiency
• Systems Issues
• Mobile cloud
• Security and Privacy

Talk Schedule

• Week 8 (Mar 17): Health Apps, Personal assistants, and Location-aware computing
• Week 9 (Mar 24): Human Activity and Emotion Sensing, Mobile social networking & crowd sensing
• Week 11 (Apr 7): Web and Multimedia, Input Devices and Mobile HCI
• Week 12 (Apr 14): Measurements and App Usage Studies, Energy Efficiency
• Week 13 (Apr 21): Energy Efficiency, Security and Privacy
• Week 14 (Apr 28): Security and Privacy
• Week 15 (May 5): Final Student Presentations