ACM S3 2010 Panel Abstract

The importance of real-world validation for computer science and engineering research

Top conferences such as SIGCOMM, NSDI, MobiCom and MobiSys often encourage the real-world implementation and evaluation of systems. Yet, we often encounter work based on symplifying assumptions and evaluated in simulation. This panel will discuss the importance of real-world validation in systems research. We would like to hear from advocates of detailed simulations and those who prefer collecting real-world data traces. We will also investigate the drawbacks of using real-world data for solution evaluation, such as undersampling, non-repeatability, impact of uncontrolled environment and hardware/software glitches. On the flip side, collecting and sharing data traces has the potential to increase research impact, allow researcher to verify published results, and enable more fair comparison between systems or protocols.