You may of course make use of the references suggested and others that you discover, but the report must be written in your own words and contain your own ideas and conclusions. If you quote anything - even just a few words - from another writer, be sure to acknowledge the exact source.
In early 2011 there was some publicity about the Internet running out of IP addresses. What was behind this? What are the facts and figures, and what are the technical implications for the operation and growth of the Internet?
You can start with http://www.potaroo.net/tools/ipv4/ but you will need to search more widely.
In COMPSCI 314 we give a very short introduction to network security, which is an important topic that deserves a course of its own. Most publicity is about threats to applications and end-users. What are the major types of security threat affecting the infrastructure of the Internet, such as switches, routers, and the DNS system? How can network operators protect themselves against these threats?
Starting points:
Computer security in the real world, Lampson, Butler W.,
Computer, June 2004, Vol.37(6), pp. 37-46. (This paper is not about network infrastructure security, but will
help you to think like a security analyst).
Look at past proceedings of the Network and Distributed System
Security Symposium (NDSS).
Here's a rather alarming paper:
Losing Control of the Internet: Using the Data Plane to Attack the Control Plane (Schuchard et al, Proceedings of the 17th ACM conference on Computer and communications security, CCS'10).
For a protocol designer's view of security, look at
RFC 3552.
This is an alternative technique used by many Internet Service Providers in addition to standard IP routing. We don't have time to cover it in COMPSCI 314. What are the advantages and disadvantages compared to standard IP routing? Why do some ISPs use standard routing only, and others use MPLS?
Starting point: The Wikipedia article on MPLS is quite good, but obviously you have to do your own research. The Uni library has a book "MPLS-Based VPNs" by Tomsu & Wieser, 2002 but be careful, standards and products have evolved since 2002. They also have "MPLS next steps" by Davie & Farrel (2008) - the authors are active participants in the IETF.
In COMPSCI 314 we discuss the IEEE 802.11 standards for wireless networks. Report on the alternative standards such as 802.16, Bluetooth, Zigbee,... How are they different? What is their status (products, services, users)? How do 3G and 4G mobile phones fit into the picture?
Starting point: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_network, but search more widely.
In COMPSCI 314 we talk about TCP and UDP, the Internet's classical transport protocols. Recently, three alternatives called SCTP, MPTCP and DCCP have been defined. Investigate them and report why these were developed, their advantages and disadvantages compared to TCP and UDP, and their status (software available, amount of use).
Start with Wikipedia articles for SCTP and DCCP, and for full details you can track down the RFC documents. Start with the IETF web site for MPTCP.
TCP/IP uses the packet switching model, but another basic kind of network design uses circuit switching (not covered in COMPSCI 314). How does this fit into the layered model of network protocols? Why does the Internet have five layers when the formal Open Systems Interconnection model has seven layers? Analyse the various approaches and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each.
Starting point: Shay Section 1.4 and Chapters 11 and 13. Brian Carpenter can supply a copy of the original OSI paper published in 1980, on request. Wikipedia has interesting articles on packet and circuit switching, but obviously you have to do your own research and develop your own opinions.