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.
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. There's a book "MPLS-Based VPNs" by Tomsu & Wieser, 2002 (in the Tamaki library), but be careful, standards and products have evolved since 2002.
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)?
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, two alternatives called SCTP 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, and for full details you can track down the RFC documents.
TCP/IP uses the packet switching model, but another basic kind of network design uses circuit switching. We don't have time to discuss circuit switching in COMPSCI 314. The report will analyse the two approaches and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Why did the Internet choose packet switching?
Starting point: Shay Chapter 13 (not covered in COMPSCI 314). Also Wikipedia has interesting articles on both kinds of switching, but obviously you have to do your own research and develop your own opinions.
The formal Open Systems Interconnection 7-layer model was defined in about 1980 but the Internet uses a 5-layer model with applications running directly over TCP or UDP. The report will analyse these two approaches and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. Why did the Internet choose a 5-layer model?
Starting point: Shay Section 1.4 and Chapter 11, and Brian Carpenter can supply a copy of the original OSI paper published in 1980, on request.