Course Description

Basic concepts in networking, the OSI model, error detection codes, flow control, routing, medium access control, and high-speed networks.

Course Objectives

• Understand the challenges of network communication.
• Understand the basics of network communication.
• Understand the operation of the protocols that are used inside the Internet.

Course Objectives and Department Mission

Because the Internet is such an important part of the communications infrastructure, understanding how it works is of benefit to everyone. Understanding the Internet in detail is especially critical for Computer Science students. Not only do students learn how communication takes place, but the Internet serves as an excellent example of a highly distributed and complex computer system. As a consequence, understanding the Internet fits well with the CS Department's Mission.

Course Information

• Lecture Time/Place
  • Tuesday/Thursday--2:00pm to 3:15pm (Buchanan 1940)

• Discussion Time/Place
  • Friday-- 2:00pm to 2:50pm (Phelps 3523), or
  • Monday--12:00pm to 12:50pm (Phelps 1425)
    • First discussion is September 26th
    • Identical discussion sections are separated by a weekend, not by weekdays

• Course WWW Page: Archived at: http://www.cs.ucsb.edu/~almeroth/classes/F03.176A/]

• Course Material
  • Two different styles of the class textbook:
    • J. Kurose and K. Ross, Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet", Addison-Wesley, 2nd edition, July 2002.
      • Good descriptive text, but top-down instead of bottom-up.
      • Note: Second edition was recently finished, but may or may not be available.

    • Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, Prentice Hall, 4th Edition, August 2002.
      • Terse but thorough.

    • http://www.google.com/
      • Learn it, know it, love it.

    • Shiv Kalyanaraman's Online Computer Networking Lessons
      • A colleaque has put together some useful lessons. Try it, you might like it!

• Required Prerequisites: PSTAT120A or ECE139.

• Recommended Prerequisites: PSTAT120B and CS170.

Instructor Information

Kevin Almeroth (almeroth@cs.ucsb.edu)
Office 2113, Engineering I
Phone: 893-2777
Office Hours: 11:00am-12:00pm and 1:00pm-2:00pm on Tuesdays and Thursday; by appointment, or if my door is open.

Teaching Assistants

Khaled Harras (kharras@cs.ucsb.edu)
Responsibilities: Monday Discussion Section, Homework #2, and Homework #3
Office Hours Times/Location: Monday and Wednesday, 11:00am-12:30pm, NMSL

Allan Knight (aknight@cs.ucsb.edu)
Responsibilities: Friday Discussion Section, Homework #1, and Homework #4
Office Hours Times/Location: Monday 5:00pm-6:30pm and Friday 3:00pm-4:30pm, NMSL

Hangjin Zhang (hangjin@cs.ucsb.edu)
Responsibilities: Question/Answer, Grading
Office Hours Times/Location: Wednesday 5:00pm-6:00pm and Thursday 4:00pm-6:00pm, CSIL

Chao-I Chen (cichen@cs.ucsb.edu)
Responsibilities: Question/Answer, Grading
Office Hours Times/Location: Friday 9:00am-12:00pm, CSIL

Student Evaluation

• ***: Homework #0--Class Mailing List [due September 28]
• 34%: Homeworks
  • 06%: Homework #1 [Solutions]
  • 08%: Homework #2 [Solutions]
  • 08%: Homework #3 [Solutions]
  • 12%: Homework #4 [due December 2]
• 15%: Quiz #1 List of Topics [October 7]
• 20%: Quiz #2 List of Topics [November 4]
• 31%: Final Exam List of Topics [December 8]
• ***: Class Participation
  
  NOTE: HW0 and Class Participation do not have a deterministic component but will count in your final grade.
  NOTE2: There is no late homework/exam make-up policy. All missed deadlines are assumed to earn a 0.
  NOTE3: All quizzes and the final exam are closed notes/books/etc.
  

Course Outline