Outline for Computer Networks (CIS 6930)

Week #1 (08/25 - 08/31) - Introduction and overview

• Topics: Basic communications model. Protocol layers and service models. Ths OSI model. The role of standards organizations.
• Reading:
• Events: None

Week #2 (09/01 - 09/07) - Overview of the Internet

• Topics: What is the Internet? Delay in the Internet (traceroute and ping). Concept of Quality of Serive (QoS) in the Internet. History of the Internet.
• Reading: Chapter 1
• Events: No class on Monday (holiday)

Week #3 (09/08 - 09/14) - Application layer

• Topics:Application layer protocols. Client-server as a key model. Web, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP3, and DNS. File sharing - caching and peer-to-peer leading to Content Distribution Networks (CDNs).
• Reading: Chapter 2
• Events: HW #1 due Monday in class

Week #4 (09/15 - 09/21) - Sockets programming

• Topics: Sockets programming in C. A simple client-server implementation. A simple web server implementation. Discussion of project.
• Reading: Chapter 2
• Events:

Week #5 (09/22 - 09/28) - Transport layer

• Topics:Reliable data transfer - Stop-and-wait and Go-back-N design and evaluation. TCP and UDP semantics and syntax. TCP RTT estimation.
• Reading: Chapter 3
• Events: HW #2 due Monday in class

Week #6 (09/29 - 10/05) - Transport layer (continued)

• Topics: Principles of congestion control - efficiency and fairness, reactive and proactive. Writing a research paper in the field of networks.
• Reading: Chapter 3
• Events:

Week #7 (10/06 - 10/12) - Network layer and routing

• Topics: Principles of routing. Link-state and distance vector routing. IP semantics and syntax. Inside an IP router. Multicast routing.
• Reading: Chapter 4
• Events: HW #3 due Monday in class

Week #8 (10/13 - 10/19) - Link layer

• Topics: Error detection (parity, checksum, and CRC). Mutliple access protocols (collision and token based). IEEE 802.3 Ethernet.
• Reading: Chapter 5
• Events:

Week #9 (10/20 - 10/26) - Link layer (continued)

• Topics: IEEE 802.11 WiFi, IEEE 802.5 token ring, and ANSI FDDI.
• Reading: Chapter 5
• Events: HW #4 due Monday in class, Exam #1 on Wednesday

Week #10 (10/27 - 11/02) - Link layer (continued)

• Topics: ATM. Switching and bridging.
• Reading: Chapter 5
• Events:

Week #11 (11/03 - 11/09) - Link layer and physical layer

• Topics: Design of high-speed packet switches. Media, signal strenth, and data encoding.
• Reading: Chapter 5
• Events: HW #5 due Monday in class

Week #12 (11/10 - 11/16) - Multimedia networking

• Topics: Streaming video and voice. RTP, SIP, H.323, RSVP, IntServ, and DiffServ.
• Reading: Chapter 6
• Events:

Week #13 (11/17 - 11/23) - Security in networks

• Topics: Symmetric and public key cryptography. Authentication. Firewalls.
• Reading: Chapter 7
• Events: HW #6 due Monday in class

Week #14 (11/24 - 11/30) - Network management

• Topics: What is network management. SNMP. MRTG tool.
• Reading: Chapter 8
• Events: None

Week #15 (12/01 - 12/07) - Course wrap-up

• Topics: Overflow from previous topics. Discussion of current research topics and communities.
• Reading: None
• Events: Exam #2 on Wednesday. Project due by Friday, 5pm.