David Choffnes, PhD Candidate (Distributed Systems, Operating Systems, Mobile Wireless Ad-hoc Networks)

NEWS
Plugin for the Vuze (Azureus) BitTorrent client that reliably finds problems in the network and raises alerts about them.
The NEWS (Network Early Warning System) plugin does this by passively monitoring your BitTorrent performance and checking for changes that might indicate problems with the network. Because a network problem can be anywhere, including your local network, NEWS uses corroboration from multiple users running in the same area (e.g., ISP or country). If enough people see the same problem in the same area, an alarm is raised. The main benefit of our solution is that it uses a common-sense approach of monitoring the natural traffic generated by your BitTorrent client, making detection of anomalies extremely lightweight.
Currently 12,546 unique users and growing!
Ono
Plugin for the Vuze (Azureus) BitTorrent client that performs CDN-based detouring of data traffic for improved performance and reduced impact on ISPs.
Using results collected from our participating users (well over 100,000 of them!), we have found that our system locates peers along paths that have two orders of magnitude lower latency and 30% lower loss rates than those picked at random by BitTorrent, and that these high-quality paths can lead to significant improvements in transfer rates. In challenged settings where peers are overloaded in terms of available bandwidth, Ono provides a 31% average download-rate improvement; in environments with large available bandwidth, Ono increases download rates by 207% on average (and improves median rates by 883%).
Currently 313,019 unique users and growing!
STRAW (STreet RAndom Waypoint)
Vehicular mobility model implemented for the JiST/SWANS simulation platform. Downloaded over 700 times.
SWANS++
Sourceforge project that unifies updates and improvements to the JiST/SWANS simulation platform.
Ceratias
Real-time visualization tool for the JiST/SWANS simulation platform. Also enables interaction with and online modification of the ongoing simulation, and can be detached/reattached dynamically for performance.

And while you're here, feel free to check out the list of gotchas that have consumed countless days of my life that I'll never get back.

		David Choffnes PhD Candidate, in Computer Science at Northwestern University Northwestern Systems Research Group Aqualab Research Lab ~ Software ~
Research Statement CV Software Recreation Photos Personal		NEWS Plugin for the Vuze (Azureus) BitTorrent client that reliably finds problems in the network and raises alerts about them. The NEWS (Network Early Warning System) plugin does this by passively monitoring your BitTorrent performance and checking for changes that might indicate problems with the network. Because a network problem can be anywhere, including your local network, NEWS uses corroboration from multiple users running in the same area (e.g., ISP or country). If enough people see the same problem in the same area, an alarm is raised. The main benefit of our solution is that it uses a common-sense approach of monitoring the natural traffic generated by your BitTorrent client, making detection of anomalies extremely lightweight. Currently 12,546 unique users and growing! Ono Plugin for the Vuze (Azureus) BitTorrent client that performs CDN-based detouring of data traffic for improved performance and reduced impact on ISPs. Using results collected from our participating users (well over 100,000 of them!), we have found that our system locates peers along paths that have two orders of magnitude lower latency and 30% lower loss rates than those picked at random by BitTorrent, and that these high-quality paths can lead to significant improvements in transfer rates. In challenged settings where peers are overloaded in terms of available bandwidth, Ono provides a 31% average download-rate improvement; in environments with large available bandwidth, Ono increases download rates by 207% on average (and improves median rates by 883%). Currently 313,019 unique users and growing! STRAW (STreet RAndom Waypoint) Vehicular mobility model implemented for the JiST/SWANS simulation platform. Downloaded over 700 times. SWANS++ Sourceforge project that unifies updates and improvements to the JiST/SWANS simulation platform. Ceratias Real-time visualization tool for the JiST/SWANS simulation platform. Also enables interaction with and online modification of the ongoing simulation, and can be detached/reattached dynamically for performance. And while you're here, feel free to check out the list of gotchas that have consumed countless days of my life that I'll never get back.