Efficient communication is at the very heart of extracting performance from a parallel or distributed system. The design of a parallel or distributed network involves a number of complex design choices. This research aims at providing a sound theoretical basis for making these choices and help meet the challenges of the evolving National Information Infrastructure (NII). This project will study important theoretical issues in the design of parallel or distributed networks that guarantee quality-of-service (QoS) performance metrics. Further, this effort will focus on simple implementable protocols for store-and-forward, wormhole, and deflection routing. This project will investigate theoretical aspects of wireless communication, including call admission algorithms, and algorithms for mobility management. The education plan includes activities involving research into novel teaching methodologies, participating in teaching seminars, and consulting with experienced educators. A new core undergraduate course in algorithms will be developed with the aim of integrating algorithmic theory with algorithmic practice. The course will focus on a number of teaching innovations. ***
