The Pretty Simple Network
I have been teaching the "Network and Services" course in the University of Málaga for a few years now. It might sound like I'm getting old and repeating the mantras everyone repeats about students, but it feels like every year it is more difficult to keep the attention of students in class... but, is it so?
Is it possible that new generations are changing, and that traditional classes, problems and exams are no longer effective in the age of MOOCs, Youtube tutorials and, most critically, LLMs like ChatGPT? Yes, their attention spans are severely damaged by doomscrolling, but it is also unfair to expect them to not use these tools for their education.
Then, what role do college teachers play in this day and age? That's the million dollar (or should I say, the million citation) question. I have rummaged an answer to this question and plan to do so for the rest of my career. And my Nth attempt is this one.
So, in the University, we pride ourselves on preparing students not for the latest fad or the technology most sought by the industry this month; but for teaching the basics of any past, present of future technology. In other words, they might not be prepared to deploy and service a 7G mobile network the day after they get hired, but after a brief period of research, they will be able to deploy it, service it, fix it, understand it, and improve upon it. Why? Because they were taught to understand networks. That's the spirit. But i digress...
So, my dilemma was: how can I teach "Networks and Services" reducing the need for slides and blackboard (yes, we use blackboards at UMA, much cooler than whiteboards) and giving the students something that works, but is not tied to the current fads? PSIN is the answer to this question.
The Pretty Simple Network (PSIN, PSN was taken) is a full network technology, designed from the Physical to Application layer from scratch. It is not designed to be fast, actually the idea is for it to run at single-digit bps so that every part of the system can be viewed and interpreted in real time. It will be defined in a set of documents to be released in this website with the specifications of the functions of each layer, following the OSI model, and always using the simplest design choices.
The implementation of PSIN will be done on several types of devices. I will start development with Arduino, since my students are in the "Communication Electronics" degree, and I know this will motivate them. The idea is to have two or more Arduinos communicating over different configurations of the PSIN, demonstrating concepts such as:
- Basic network topologies.
- Digital transmission, serial and parallel.
- Network metrics, such as throughput, latency, etc.
- Multiplexation with TDM and maybe later with FDM and CDM.
- Medium Access Control.
- Routing and forwarding.
- Encryption.
- Etc...
In the future, the PSIN should also arrive to other devices (ESP32, Raspberry Pi, and why not, PC), as long as it keeps being simple and accesible to average students. I also plan on using different options for each layer, for instance, different kind of wired and wireless media in the PHY layer, or implementing different services such as text or voice transmission.
I will keep anyone reading these entries informed. Of course, when I release this text, work will be well underway and have a minimal demo prepared, if nothing else, to guarantee that this is not yet another project forever stalled in my "unfinished projects" drawer.