Computer Communications Networks & Distributed Processing
(aka Computer Networks)

2007/08 Catalog description

Prerequisites: CS 253. Study of networks of interacting computers. The problems, rationale, and possible solution for both distributed processing and distributed data bases will be examined.

Logistics

Instructor

Dr. Stan Kurkovsky, Associate Professor of Computer Science

Office

MS 303-08

Phone

(860) 832-2720

Fax

(860) 832-2712

E-mail

kurkovskysta@ccsu.edu

Office hours

MW 4:00 pm - 5:15 pm, TR 9:00 am - 9:30 am, R 10:45 am - 12:15 pm or by appointment

Class meetings

MW 5:15 pm - 6:30 pm @ MS 223

Textbook and other reference materials

• Computer Networking, 4th edition by Kurose and Ross, Addison Wesley, ISBN 0321497708
• In-class handouts
• Companion web site available at http://wps.aw.com/aw_kurose_network_4
• Instructor's web site available at http://www.cs.ccsu.edu/~stan/ and other web sites recommended by the instructor
• Wireshark packet sniffer available at http://www.wireshark.org
• Blackboard Vista will be used to turn in all assignments
• Course project description

Course objectives

Upon a successful completion of this course the students should be able to:

• Understand the fundamental underlying principles of computer networking;
• Understand the details and functionality of layered network architecture;
• Design and implement application layer network protocols;
• Design and implement distributed network applications.

Tentative schedule

Reference: KR - Kurose & Ross, Computer Networking

Week 1: September 4 - September 7

• Lecture: Introduction; course overview and objectives.
  Reading: none

Week 2: September 10 - September 14

• Lecture: Network edge and network core
  Reading: KR 1.1-1.3
• Lecture: Delay, loss and throughput; Layered architectures
  Reading: KR 1.4-1.6

Week 3: September 17 - September 21

• Lab 1
• Lecture: Network applications
  Reading: KR 2.1

Week 4: September 24 - September 28

• Lecture: HTTP
  Reading: KR 2.2
• Lecture: FTP and email
  Reading: KR 2.3-2.4

Week 5: October 1 - October 5

• Lab 1 is due
• Assignment 1 is due
• Lab 2
• Lecture: DNS and P2P
  Reading: KR 2.5-2.6

Week 6: October 8 - October 12

• Midterm 1
• Lecture: Transport layer services; multiplexing/demultiplexing
  Reading: KR 3.1-3.2

Week 7: October 15 - October 19

• Lab 2 is due
• Project part 1 (survey paper) is due
• Lecture: UDP; reliable data transfer
  Reading: KR 3.3-3.4
• Lecture: Reliable data transfer
  Reading: KR 3.4

Week 8: October 22 - October 26

• Lecture: TCP
  Reading: KR 3.5
• Lecture: Congestion control
  Reading: KR 3.6-3.7

Week 9: October 29 - November 2

• Project part 2 (system design) is due
• Lab 3: part 1, part 2
• October 30 - Last day to withdraw from full-semester courses without approval
• Lecture: Network layer, virtual circuits and datagram networks
  Reading: KR 4.1-4.2

Week 10: November 5 - November 9

• Lecture: Principles of routing and switching
  Reading: KR 4.3
• Lecture: IP
  Reading: KR 4.4

Week 11: November 12 - November 16

• Lab 3 is due
• Assignment 2 is due
• Lecture: Routing algorithms
  Reading: KR 4.5
• Lecture: Internet routing
  Reading: KR 4.6

Week 12: November 19 - November 23

• Midterm 2
• November 21 - 25: Thanksgiving Recess - No Classes

Week 13: November 26 - November 30

• Lecture: Broadcast and multicast routing
  Reading: KR 4.7
• Lecture: Link layer services; error correction and detection
  Reading: KR 5.1-5.2

Week 14: December 3 - December 7

• Lecture: Multiple access protocols; link layer addressing
  Reading: KR 5.3-5.4
• Lecture: Ethernet; hubs and switches
  Reading: KR 5.5-5.6

Week 15: December 10 - December 13

• Assignment 3 is due
• Lecture: PPP
  Reading: KR 5.7
• Project demonstration
• Project part 3 (final deliverables) is due

Final: December 17

• Final exam: December 17 @ 6:15 pm - 8:15 pm

Midterms

Midterms are non-cumulative and are designed as elemental evaluation devices and to prompt the student to stay abreast of assigned topics. Each test will take 50 minutes. Make-up tests may only be given if a student can provide a written proof of a serious reason for missing a test (such as illness or accident).

 Questions on a test may include:

• True/false questions,
• Multiple choice questions,
• Fill in the blank questions,
• Short answer questions.

Final exam

Final exam is a cumulative objective test of representative content of the entire semester's course offerings.

Lab assignments

During the labs students will work on hands-on problems focusing on the material covered in class lectures and reading assignments. Students can work on lab assignments individually or in teams of two. Deliverable for each lab is due no later than two weeks after the lab date. Deliverables for each lab assignment must be submitted via Blackboard Vista - no other submissions will be accepted.

Assignments

Each assignments will consist of a set of mostly theoretical problems based on the textbook and lecture material. Students must work on assignments individually and turn in printed or neatly hand-written solutions. All submitted pages must be stapled together; the first page must have the student name and the assignment number.

Course project

While working on the course project, students will use the knowledge and skills obtained in this course covering many if not all of the course topics. Working in teams of two (preferably the same teams as on the labs), students will design and implement a simple peer-to-peer file sharing system. Course project is delivered in three stages: a survey paper discussing different existing P2P architectures for file sharing; a detailed design of of the system to be implemented including its protocols (students are strongly encouraged to use UML, in particular, sequence and class diagrams); and the final demonstration of the working system (all source code and any changes to the design document must also be submitted at that time).

More details on deliverables and their due dates are available here.

Honesty policy

It is expected that all students will conduct themselves in an honest manner (see the CCSU Student Handbook), and never turn in any work which is not their own. Violating this policy will result in a substantial grade penalty, and could result in expulsion from the University. However, students are allowed to discuss assignments with others and receive debugging help from others.

Attendance

All students are expected to attend class sessions regularly. However, recognizing individual differences, each student is responsible for his/her own attendance and for making-up any missed study or work. Limited assistance will be offered to those with plausible reasons for absences; unexcused absences will result in the student being totally responsible for the make-up process.

Help with computers

The University offers some student assistants who may be of value in helping students with basic computer functionality only, not with program writing.

Students with disabilities

Any student who feels s/he may need an accommodation based on the impact of a disability should contact me privately to discuss your specific needs. I will need a copy of the accommodation letter from Student Disability Services in order to arrange your class accommodations. Contact Student Disability Services, Room 241, Copernicus Hall, if you are not already registered with them. Student Disability Services maintains the confidential documentation of your disability and assists you in coordinating reasonable accommodations with your faculty.

Grades and evaluation

Students will be evaluated regularly during the semester and should be aware of their progress continuously during the semester. The final course grade will be reported according to the stated University policy.

The final course grade will be calculated according to the following distribution of points:

Course letter grade will be determined as follows:

A	A-	B+	B	B-	C+	C	C-	D+	D	D-	F
95-100	90-94	87-89	84-86	80-83	77-79	74-76	70-73	67-69	64-66	60-63	0-59