CSCI B438 Introduction to Computer
Networks
Spring 2006
(starting
Spring 2006 students will receive "P" credit for this course)
Credit Hours: 3
Lecture: T,Th 9:30-10:45 a.m. BH 149
Lab: Friday 12:00-12:50
Instructors:
Professor Beth Plale
LH301D, 812-855-4373
plale <at> cs
<dot>
Office Hours: Tuesday 11:00 ~ 12:00
Dr. Sangmi Lee Pallickara
LH301H
leesangm <at> cs
<dot>
Office Hours: Thursday 11:00 ~ 12:00
Associate Instructor (AI):
Jeff Cox
LH330A
jefcox<at>cs<dot>
Office Hours: Monday and Wednesday 4 ~
5 pm
Instant Messenger:
AIM:
jeffreyacox3
MSN:
jeffreyacox3
Yahoo:
jeffreyacox4
Textbooks:
Computer Networks: a Systems Approach, 3rd Edition,
Larry L. Peterson and Bruce S. Davie
Morgan Kaufmann, 2003
ISBN 1-55860-832-X (Casebound)
ISBN 1-55860-833-8 (Paperback)
Course Agenda (may change, so check
back regularly)
Jan 10-12 Foundations
Jan 17 Performance
Jan 19-24 Direct Link Networks - a look at the bits as they flow
through the wire, cable, atmosphere, or fiber.
Framing,error detection
Reliable
transmission
Ethernet
(802.3)
Wireless
(802.11)
New deadline for Part A of project: Friday February 3 at
midnight.
Feb 2-14 Packet Switching - how
switches enable hosts to talk toone another.
VirtualCircuit Switching
Bridges
and LAN switches
Implementation
and performance
Feb 16-23 Internetworking - finding a
path through a network of millions of computers on the Internet.
Internet
Protocol (IP)
Address
resolution
DHCP
Routing
IPv6-
the new version of IP
Feb 28
Midterm
March 2-9 Self Similarity - network traffic looks the same whenviewed at different degrees of
"magnification". We'll
take a look at why this is.
March 14-16 Spring Break
March 21-30 End-to-End Protocols - the layer that makes it all
look so simple.
UDP
and TCP
Congestion
control
TCP
traffic control
BLAST
for bulk transfer
April 4-11 Network Security - protecting traffic, users, and
hosts
Message
digest algorithms
Public
key encryption
Secure
shells, secure transfer
Firewalls
Denial-of-service(DOS) attacks
Apr 13-25 End-to-end data
Information,
entropy, and coding -
understanding the information loss in compression techniques
Host
independent data representations Ð encoding data and metadata
XML
XDR
Apr 27 Overlay Networks
Peer-to-peer
networks and content distribution networks
May 1-5 Finals week
Lab Topics and Out of Class Assignments
Sockets Programming.
Versions of Sockets. Sockets, Socket
Descriptors, Ports, and Connection. The Client/Server
Model of Communication. Sockets Elements. Streamand Datagram Sockets. Run-Time Program Control. Remote Execution
of a Windows Console Application.
Homework Exercises
Homework assignments are pencil and paper tasks to exercise the
theoretical material.
Projects
¥ Part A: Time server and client
(TCP and UDP)
¥ Part
B: Network performance analysis
¥ Part
C: You can choose one of the following options
Option
1: Building a reliable communication over a datagram network (default)
Option
2: Choose your own topic. A proposal must be submitted before you start your
own project.
Option
3: Select a set of research papers, and analyze their approaches (report and
presentation).
* Note: Option 3 is for the students pursuing B credit instead of P
credit.