Instructor: Dr. Ken Christensen Department: Computer Science and Engineering Office location: ENB 319 Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 4:30pm to 5:30pm. Call or email
to schedule an appointment. Phone: 974-4761 Email: christen@csee.usf.edu Homepage: http://www.csee.usf.edu/~christen
Old catalog course description: Design and analysis of data communication
networks with an emphasis on the Internet and its protocols. Key topics include
protocol models, HTTP, TCP, IP, local area networks, routing, flow control,
multimedia networking, and performance evaluation.
Updated catalog course description: Design and analysis of communication
networks with an emphasis on the Internet and its protocols. Key topics include
protocol models, performance evaluation, and emerging areas.
Course prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department is required. It
is assumed that the student has passed an undergraduate course in Computer
Networks (or has equivalent knowledge), has a modest background in probability
and statistics, and can program well in "C".
Required textbook:The required textbook is Performance Modeling of
Communication Networks with Markov Chains by Jeonghoon Mo (ISBN-10:
1598299174) (cost is $35 at amazon.com). Additional readings will come from
assigned papers (that will be available via the class website).
Required software:There is a required software package - CSIM20 from
Mesquite Software (cost is about $65).
Course objectives:
As a result of successfully completing this course, a student will:
Understand the foundations of computer networks
Be able to evaluate the performance of a computer network using measurement,
analysis, and simulation.
Understand queueing theory and its application to modeling of computer
networks
Have a familiarity with important and emerging research areas in computer
networks
Course topics:
This course will cover the following topics:
Week 1: The Internet top down
Week 2: The Internet top down (continued)
Week 3: The Internet top down (continued)
Week 4: Performance evaluation
Week 5: Measurement
Week 6: Analytical modeling
Week 7: Queueing theory
Week 8: Queueing theory (continued)
Week 9: Simulation modeling
Week 10: Simulation modeling (continued)
Week 11: Traffic characterization
Week 12: Hot topic #1 - traffic shaping and scheduling
Grading: Students will earn a grade based on four mini-projects,
a midterm exam, a paper review, and a final exam. The grade breakdown is:
Mini-projects: 40% (due on midnight of 09/28/11, 10/26/11, 11/16/11,
and 11/30/11).
Midterm exam: 20% (held on 10/12/11 in class)
Paper review: 10% (due on midnight of 11/30/11)
Final exam: 30% (held on 12/07/11 from 8pm to 10pm)
The grading scale is "no worse than" (note that there are no "+" or "-"
grades):
A = 90% through 100%
B = 80% through 89%
C = 70% through 79%
D = 60% through 69%
F = Less than 60%
Course policies:
Late work will not be accepted.
We will be observing all university policies regarding religious holidays
and disability policies. Any student with a disability who needs special
accommodations must bring a current Memorandum of Accommodations from the
Office of Student Disability Services (this is the prerequisite for receiving
accommodations). Accommodated examinations through the Office of Student
Disability Services require two weeks notice.
Incomplete ("I") grades will only be given in the case of severe hardship
including verifiable medical emergencies or legal troubles. Simply being
"overloaded" and unable to complete your work is not grounds for an "I"
grade.
You may tape the lectures and take notes for personal use, but you may not
make monetary profit from the tapes and/or notes.
Out of courtesy to other students please make sure that you turn off, or
place in silent mode, your cell phone.
Academic integrity:
I expect students to be honest in their academic life. I will recommend
expulsion from the Department for students that are dishonest. I am not kidding!
I expect that all software used for this course has been legally acquired.
The ACM code of ethics is
http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics
and the ACM definition of plagiarism is
http://www.acm.org/publications/policies/plagiarism_policy.
Read these documents. Anything you don't understand in these doucments, ask
questions.
