Textbook

You can follow (most of) the content of the course using:

  • Computer Networks: A Systems Approach (5th edition), by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie. It's available on Amazon.
We will indicate besides each lecture below which sections correspond to the lecture.

Programming Help

Grading

Your final grade for the course will be based on the following weights:

  • 45% Programing Projects (4)
    • 5% Snowcast
    • 10% IP
    • 25% TCP
    • 5% Final Project
  • 15% Homeworks (3)
  • 15% Midterm Exam
  • 25% Final Exam

The three written homework assignments will all be done individually. The first program, Snowcast, will also be done individually, while the remaining programs will be completed in groups of two (2).

Programming assignments will be evaluated by the student TAs, while homeworks and exams will be graded by the instructor.

Schedule

Date Lecture Assignments Readings
Thu 9/10 L1 - Intro
[pdf] [pptx]
HW 0 out
Snowcast out
1.1-1.3
Tue 9/15 L2 - Layering
[pdf] [pptx]
1.4, 1.5
Thu 9/17 L3 - Physical Layer
[pdf] [pptx]
HW0, Snowcast milestone due [Signup] 2.1, 2.3
Tue 9/22 L4 - Link Layer
[pdf] [pptx]
2.4, 2.5
Thu 9/24 L5 - Switching
[pdf] [pptx]
Snowcast due (11:59pm)
HW1 out
2.6,3.1
Tue 9/29 L6 - Link Layer Wrap-up
[L5 slides]
Use slides from Lecture 5 3.1 (cont)
Thu 10/1 L7 - IP Intro
[pdf] [pptx]
HW1 due (11:59pm); IP Assignment out 4.1.1-4.1.7, 4.3.1-4.3.2
Tue 10/6 L8 - IP Continued
[pdf] [pptx]
4.2
Thu 10/8 L9 - Intra-domain routing
[L8 slides]
IP milestone deadline 4.3.3
Tue 10/13 L10 - Inter-domain routing 1 (Intro to BGP)
[pdf] [pptx]
4.3.3
Thu 10/15 L11 - Network Layer Wrap-up
[pdf] [pptx]
HW2 out, IP due 4.3.3, but goes beyond book. BGP Wedgies are described in RFC 4264
Tue 10/20 L12 - Transport Layer Prequel
[L11 slides]
HW2 due (11:59pm) 4.1.7 (ICMP), 4.3.5 (IPv6), 4.4.1 (Multicast)
Thu 10/22 Midterm
[material through L11]
TCP out
Tue 10/27 L13 - Transport Layer I
[pdf] [pptx]
UDP and TCP intro. 5.1, 5.2.1-5.2.3
Thu 10/29 L14 - Transport Layer II
[pdf] [pptx]
5.2.4-5.2.8; 6.3
Tue 11/3 L15 - Fun with Congestion Control
[pdf] [pptx]
HW3 out 6.4.3. Some content not in book.
Thu 11/5 L16 - Transport Layer Wrapup
Sat 11/7
TCP milestone I
Tue 11/10 L17 - DNS
[pdf] [pptx]
9.1.3
Thu 11/12 L18 - Web
[pdf] [pptx]
HW3 due 9.12
Sat 11/14
TCP milestone II
Tue 11/17 L19 - CDN and P2P
[pdf] [pptx]
9.4-9.4.3
Thu 11/19 L20 - Data / RPC
[pdf] [pptx]
How to write your own application-level protocol. 5.3
Tue 11/25 L21 - Wireless
[pdf] [pptx]
TCP due 2.8 (intro), 2.8.2
Thu 11/26 No class
Thanksgiving
Tue 12/1 L22 - Security
[pdf] [pptx]
IP over DNS Out 8.1, 8.2, 8.4.3
Thu 12/3 L23 - SDNs
[pdf] [pptx]
Tue 12/8 L23 - Wrap-up
[pdf] [pptx]
Thurs 12/10 Final Exam, 10:30am
Only material presented after the midterm will be tested.
Mon 12/16
IP over DNS due 11:59pm Demo during finals week (12/14-18) to receive credit.