The 15th ACM Workshop on Hot Topics in Networks (HotNets 2016) will bring together researchers in computer networks and systems to engage in a lively debate on the theory and practice of computer networking. HotNets provides a venue for discussing innovative ideas and for debating future research agendas in networking.

We invite researchers and practitioners to submit short position papers. The workshop seeks to foster discussions that can shape research agendas for the networking community as a whole. Thus, we strongly encourage papers that identify fundamental open questions, offer a constructive critique of the state of networking research, or present and explain new opportunities as well as challenges.

We also encourage submissions of early-stage work describing promising but unproven ideas. Submissions can, for example, advocate a new approach, re-frame or debunk existing work, report unexpected early results from a deployment, or propose new evaluation methodologies. Novel ideas need not be supported by full evaluations; well-reasoned arguments or preliminary evaluations can support the possibility of the paper’s claims. When fully developed and supported by more experimental evidence, we expect follow-on work to be published at related conferences such as SIGCOMM, SOSP, OSDI, SenSys, NSDI, MobiCom, MobiSys, PODC, CoNEXT, or INFOCOM. Finished work that fits in a short paper is likely a better fit with the short-paper tracks at either CoNEXT or IMC.

HotNets takes a broad view of networking research. This includes new ideas relating to (but not limited to) mobile, wide-area, data-center, home, and enterprise networks using a variety of link technologies (wired, wireless, visual, and acoustic), as well as social networks and network architecture. It encompasses all aspects of networks, including (but not limited to) packet-processing hardware and software, virtualization, mobility, provisioning and resource management, performance, energy consumption, topology, robustness and security, measurement, diagnosis, verification, privacy, economics and evolution, interactions with applications, and usability of underlying networking technologies.

Position papers will be selected based on originality, likelihood of stimulating insightful discussion at the workshop, and technical merit. Accepted papers will be posted online prior to the workshop and will be published in the ACM Digital Library, thereby widely disseminating the ideas discussed at the workshop.

Position papers will be selected based on originality, likelihood of stimulating insightful discussion at the workshop, and technical merit. Accepted papers will be posted online prior to the workshop and will be published in the ACM Digital Library, thereby widely disseminating the ideas discussed at the workshop.