David Choffnes, PhD (Distributed Systems, Operating Systems, Networking, 3G, Mobile Wireless Ad-hoc Networks)

Short Research Statement

I focus on solutions to problems that affect large portions of the Internet population and produce software that delivers my research ideas to the scale of hundreds of thousands of users worldwide.
A key goal of my current work is enabling a sort of “information plane” for globally-distributed systems by reusing measurements collected by existing long-running services. By avoiding the need to perform potentially costly measurements, this design approach improves scalability, reduces code complexity and facilitates deployment for new and existing services.
Because designing successful distributed systems requires an understanding of the networks that support them, my research also encompasses topics in networking that include Internet topologies, network positioning and network neutrality. Finally, my work has touched on related areas including mobile ad-hoc networks, 3G networks, operating systems, security and privacy. Click here for more detail.

Selected Publications (full list)

Crowdsourcing Service-Level Network Event Detection, In Proc. of ACM SIGCOMM 2010, August 2010. (Details and PDF)
Taming the Torrent: A practical approach to reducing cross-ISP traffic in P2P systems, In Proc. of ACM SIGCOMM 2008, August 2008. (Details and PDF)
On the Effectiveness of Measurement Reuse for Performance-Based Detouring, In Proc. of IEEE INFOCOM 2009, April 2009. (Details and PDF)

Current

I am currently a postdoctoral research associate in Tom Anderson's group at the University of Washington. This work is generously funded by the CI Fellows program.

News

I've been named a 2010 Computing Innovation Fellow, which will support my postdoc work at the University of Washington.
Fabian hooded me on June 18th, finally ensuring that my username (drchoffnes) is read correctly both as my title and as my first two initials + last name.
I was awarded the 2009/2010 Outstanding Disseration Award from the Northwestern EECS department in June, 2010.
My thesis work (crowdsourcing network event detection) was accepted to SIGCOMM 2010. See this link for details.
Older news...

Background

I earned my PhD in Computer Science from Northwestern University in June, 2010, where I was awarded two Cabell Fellowships and 2009/2010 Outstanding Disseration in EECS. Prior to that, I graduated from Amherst College, magna cum laude, in 2002 with a double-major in Physics and French. Since the job market for francophone physicists dried up, I was left with no choice but to pursue a career in the textbook-authorship business with Deitel & Associates. In two years, I worked on three books, two of which I coauthored. After that, I decided it was time for me to stop writing about others' work and start making my own to write about. Fortunately, Fabián saw fit to entertain this notion, and the rest is history.

Cetera

For those who don't know me, the following passage has become a theme that runs through my life. In short, I "push the rock," just like Sisyphus from Greek mythology. But Camus tells it better:

As for this myth, one sees merely the whole effort of a body straining to raise the huge stone, to roll it and push it up a slope a hundred times over; one sees the face screwed up, the cheek tight against the stone, the shoulder bracing the clay-covered mass, the foot wedging it, the fresh start with arms outstretched, the wholly human security of two earth-clotted hands. At the very end of his long effort measured by skyless space and time without depth, the purpose is achieved. Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes back down to the plain. It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock.

-- Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

		David Choffnes Postdoctoral Research Associate and CI Fellow Dept. of Computer Science and Engineering Univeristy of Washington ~ Home ~
Research Statement CV Software Recreation Photos		Short Research Statement I focus on solutions to problems that affect large portions of the Internet population and produce software that delivers my research ideas to the scale of hundreds of thousands of users worldwide. A key goal of my current work is enabling a sort of “information plane” for globally-distributed systems by reusing measurements collected by existing long-running services. By avoiding the need to perform potentially costly measurements, this design approach improves scalability, reduces code complexity and facilitates deployment for new and existing services. Because designing successful distributed systems requires an understanding of the networks that support them, my research also encompasses topics in networking that include Internet topologies, network positioning and network neutrality. Finally, my work has touched on related areas including mobile ad-hoc networks, 3G networks, operating systems, security and privacy. Click here for more detail. Selected Publications (full list) Crowdsourcing Service-Level Network Event Detection, In Proc. of ACM SIGCOMM 2010, August 2010. (Details and PDF) Taming the Torrent: A practical approach to reducing cross-ISP traffic in P2P systems, In Proc. of ACM SIGCOMM 2008, August 2008. (Details and PDF) On the Effectiveness of Measurement Reuse for Performance-Based Detouring, In Proc. of IEEE INFOCOM 2009, April 2009. (Details and PDF) Current I am currently a postdoctoral research associate in Tom Anderson's group at the University of Washington. This work is generously funded by the CI Fellows program. News I've been named a 2010 Computing Innovation Fellow, which will support my postdoc work at the University of Washington. Fabian hooded me on June 18th, finally ensuring that my username (drchoffnes) is read correctly both as my title and as my first two initials + last name. I was awarded the 2009/2010 Outstanding Disseration Award from the Northwestern EECS department in June, 2010. My thesis work (crowdsourcing network event detection) was accepted to SIGCOMM 2010. See this link for details. Older news... Background I earned my PhD in Computer Science from Northwestern University in June, 2010, where I was awarded two Cabell Fellowships and 2009/2010 Outstanding Disseration in EECS. Prior to that, I graduated from Amherst College, magna cum laude, in 2002 with a double-major in Physics and French. Since the job market for francophone physicists dried up, I was left with no choice but to pursue a career in the textbook-authorship business with Deitel & Associates. In two years, I worked on three books, two of which I coauthored. After that, I decided it was time for me to stop writing about others' work and start making my own to write about. Fortunately, Fabián saw fit to entertain this notion, and the rest is history. Cetera For those who don't know me, the following passage has become a theme that runs through my life. In short, I "push the rock," just like Sisyphus from Greek mythology. But Camus tells it better: As for this myth, one sees merely the whole effort of a body straining to raise the huge stone, to roll it and push it up a slope a hundred times over; one sees the face screwed up, the cheek tight against the stone, the shoulder bracing the clay-covered mass, the foot wedging it, the fresh start with arms outstretched, the wholly human security of two earth-clotted hands. At the very end of his long effort measured by skyless space and time without depth, the purpose is achieved. Then Sisyphus watches the stone rush down in a few moments toward that lower world whence he will have to push it up again toward the summit. He goes back down to the plain. It is during that return, that pause, that Sisyphus interests me. A face that toils so close to stones is already stone itself! I see that man going back down with a heavy yet measured step toward the torment of which he will never know the end. That hour like a breathing-space which returns as surely as his suffering, that is the hour of consciousness. At each of those moments when he leaves the heights and gradually sinks toward the lairs of the gods, he is superior to his fate. He is stronger than his rock. -- Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus