COMPSCI 232/ EECS 248A/NET SYS 201: Computer and Communication Networks

Course Text
Computer networking: A top-down approach featuring the internet, James Kurose & Keith Ross, Addison-Wesley. (publisher, UCI reserve)

Instructions on purchasing the book

We are using one textbook: Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet, James Kurose & Keith Ross, Addison-Wesley, 6th Edition.

You can purchase either a paper copy or an electronic copy.

Paper copy: Purchase at the UCI bookstore or at any other bookstore. The retail price is $135, but you can find it for considerably less. I will be assigning problems out of the book. If you buy something older than the 6th edition, you are responsible for figuring out which problems to do, since older editions may have different problems.

Electronic copy: $54

Go to the CourseSmart webpage for the book.
Decide whether you would like to purchase the Online Format or the Downloadable Format. Both are the same price. The Online Format will allow you to view the book from any computer that has a live Internet connection. The Downloadable Format will allow you to download the book to a single computer but not to make copies of the file; it will require you to install CourseSmart Bookshelf software. Some students prefer the online format because it does not require installation of any software; other students prefer the downloadable format because it may be faster to flip pages. My recommendation is to purchase the Downloadable Format so that you don't have to worry about whether the website is down or slow.
Select your desired format and purchase the textbook using a credit card.
You should also budget for printing portions of the electronic textbooks. You might find online access too slow or cumbersome, especially when flipping through a large number of pages. If so, please print the relevant portions of the material. You may also find it convenient to print the pages with assigned problems.


Reference texts
Interactive applets, Interactive Exercises, and Powerpoint Slides from Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet, James Kurose & Keith Ross, Addison-Wesley.
Computer Networks, Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, Prentice Hall. (publisher, UCI reserve)
Communication Networks: Fundamental Concepts and Key Architectures, Albert Leon-Garcia & Indra Widjaja, McGraw Hill. (publisher, UCI reserve)
Communication Networks: A First Course, Jean Walrand, McGraw Hill. (google, UCI reserve)
High-Performance Communication Networks, Jean Walrand & Pravin Varaiya, Morgan Kaufmann. (google, UCI reserve)
Data and Computer Communications, William Stallings, Prentice-Hall. (publisher, UCI reserve)

Outline
Outline might be subject to minor modifications and updates.

Architecture:
Topics: circuit switching, telephone topology, Packet switching, Internet topology, cellular topology, cable topology, Technology convergence, packet switching, delay Packet switching models and metrics (M/M/1, M/M/1/n, Packet loss, M/G/1 heavy-tailed packet lengths, fluid flow, throughput, networks of queues, bandwidth-delay product), Circuit switching models and Metrics (M/M/n/n, call blocking, multiple cells, handoff), Internet parts, protocol stack.

Readings: Kurose-Ross: 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4, 1.5, 1.7, 3.6.1; Tanenbaum: 2.6, 2.7, 2.8; Leon-Garcia: Appendix A.



Applications:
Topics: Main concepts (end-to-end, identifiers, client server, peer-to-peer, protocol, ports, state), http,e-commerce, email, File sharing, streaming, VoIP; Application layer traffic models, Application layer traffic models and practices (QoS, CAC, IntServ, RTSP, playout, rate, RTP, RTCP)

Readings: Kurose-Ross: 2.1, 2.2, 2.4, 2.6, 7.1-7.3, 7.4, 7.5



TCP:
Topics: Concepts (reliability, connection-oriented, flow/congestion), sockets, timeouts/nums, windows, abp, srp, Udp/tcp, congestion control tcp (Tahoe, Reno, Vegas), ecn, Transport layer traffic models and practices (rate scheduling, DCCP, SCTP); addressing: by layer, CIDR, DHCP, NAT

Readings: Kurose-Ross: 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7



IP:
Topics: Addressing: DNS, ARP; IP problems, Forwarding (datagram tables, virtual circuit tables, MPLS, switching, queueing), OSPF, Hierarchical routing, BGP, transit and peering, broadcast, multicast; network layer traffic models & practices (packet scheduling and dropping)

Readings: Kurose-Ross: 2.5, 4.1, 4.2, 4.3-4.5, 4.6.2, 5.4.1, 5.5, 4.6.3-4.7, 7.5



LANs:
Topics: LAN problems, polling, tokens, aloha, Ethernet, switching, Wireless LANs, wi-fi; link and physical layer traffic models

Readings: Kurose-Ross: 5.1-5.3, 5.4, 6.3

Grading Policy
Letter grades are based on the instructor’s evaluation of your demonstrated performance in the course. An overall score in the course will be calculated using the following weighting:

Midterm 20%
Final 40%
Assignments 40%


No absolute scale will be used in assigning letter grades to each overall score. Instead, the instructor will use his judgment to decide what letter grade is appropriate for each overall score range. The instructor reserves the right to override this policy in individual cases where the student has demonstrated mastery of the material on the final, but this is rare.

All grades will be available through eee.uci.edu.

Add/Drop Policy
UCI add/drop policy
ICS add/drop policy
Course add/drop policy: the instructor normally only allows addition to the course, as space allows, until the end of the first week.
Attendance policy
Students are responsible for all the material covered in all the lectures, and the instructor will not provide notes.

To be respectful to your classmates, please turn off cell phones when in the classroom.

Comprehensive exam
The CS 232 portion of the CS MS Comprehensive Exam will consist of the course final. Students scoring a B+ or better on the final will pass the CS 232 portion of the Comprehensive Exam.

You must let me know by the end of the second week of the quarter if you wish to attempt the CS 232 portion of the CS MS Comprehensive Exam.

Professor Marco Levorato
Email: levorato@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-2175
Office Location: 3206 Bren Hall
Office Hours: 1:30 - 3:30 on Thursdays