Professor J. Mark Pullen
ST2 Room 403 (mail drop ST2-430)
Office hours 1400-1800 Monday and by appointment (including evenings/weekends)
Preferred contact email: mpullen@gmu.edu
Phone: 703-993-1538
 

DESCRIPTION

The course will present techniques and systems for communication of data between computational devices and the layers of the Internet Protocol Suite. Topics include the role of various media and software components, local and wide area network protocols, network design, performance and cost considerations, and emerging advanced commercial technologies. Emphasis is on the TCP/IP family of protocols. The ISO 7-layer reference model to organize the study. Students will program simplified versions of the protocols as part of the course project.

Prerequisites: CS571 and STAT344 or equivalent; ability to program in C/C++. Students will be required to confrm in writing that they meet the prerequisites.

Project: We will use the Network Workbench (NW), software developed at GMU that simulates a protocol stack and displays the results, using a text interface. Students will create modules for Internet stack layers and run them in the NW environment. NW will be available via IT&E computing labs in ST2-18, 133, and 137 and by dial-in. A version that runs under Borland C++ Builder (version 5) and Microsoft Visual C++ (version 6) also is available. Well documented code must be submitted by email to the TA for grading via an upload webpage at http://netlab.gmu.edu/course-upload. Additional projects are available for extra credit. The CS656 Project TA is Mohamed Bennani, email mbennani@gmu.edu, office hours Monday 17:00-19:00 and Tuesday 15:00-17:00 in 435 ST2. He also is available by appointment at other times (send email at least 24 hours in advance to set up appointment). Student problems with the project are to be addressed to the TA; if he cannot resolve your problem, he will pass it on to the author of NW who will deal with it.

The project is documented in one of the required texts. Copies of class slides, software and documentation for the project are included with this text on CDROM. Additional project information will be found at http://netlab.gmu.edu/NW.

Students are responsible for assigned readings and all material outlined in lecture slides.
 

GRADING POLICY

Midterm exam 25%, Project 35%, Final exam 40%.

Project credit breakout: DLC1, DLC2, DLC3, LAN1, WAN2, TRN1 and INT3 five points each; extra credit any three of LAN2, WAN3, WAN4, INT1, and INT2 two points each.

Missed exams must be arranged with the instructor BEFORE the exam date.

Assignments are due by 19:30 on assigned date. Late assignments lose 10% per class credit.

All students are expected to abide by the Honor Code as stated in the GMU catalog and elaborated for Computer Science. Students should be aware that their submissions may be checked by plagiarism detection software.

Grading is proficiency-based (no curve), cutoffs will be in the vicinity of (but not higher than) A  93; A- 90; B+ 87; B 80; C 70.

Extra credit is available by doing extra projects, however no student who fails the final exam will receive a grade higher than C, regardless of extra credit earned.
 

SYLLABUS (subject to revision)
date and topic/readings in Stallings text (7th ed)/project assignment

1-26 Class cancelled due to weather.

2-2 Course introduction; network concepts; 7-layer and 5-layer models / Chapters 1 & 2 / NW Setup introduced

2-9 Physical layer: analog telecommunications / Chapters 3 & 4 / Project DLC1: Framing introduced

2-16 Physical layer: digital telecommunications / Chapter 5, sections 6.1, 6.5-6.8 & chapter 8 / Project DLC2: CRC introduced

2-23 Data compression, security principles, integrity, appropriate use / Sections 6.2-6.4, Chapter 21 / Project DLC1 due

3-1 Mid-term exam

3-8 Holiday; no class

3-15 Data link control; discrete event simulation / Chapter 7 / Project DLC 3: ARQ introduced; Project DLC2 due

3-22 Local area networks / Chapters 15, 16 & 17 / Project LAN1: CSMA/CD LAN introduced

3-29 Network Layer: WANs, X.25, routing / Chapters 10, 12 & 13; Project DLC3 due

4-5 Internet Architecture (IPv4) /Chapter 18/ Project WAN 2: Forwarding and Optimization introduced; Project LAN1 due
(this will be a guest lecture)

4-12 Queueing basics; transport layer: TCP and UDP / Chapter 20 / Project TRN1: Reliable Transport introduced

4-19 Multicast, multimedia and ATM networking /Chapters 11 & 19 / Project INT3: Integrated Stack introduced; Project WAN2 due

4-26 Network Security and Network Management / Chapter 21 / Project TRN1 due; extra credit project LAN2 due

5-3 Higher layer protocols / Chapter 22

5-4 reading day; Project INT3 due; all remaining extra credit projects due

5-10 Final exam (comprehensive) / all chapters listed above / Exam location TBA
 

READINGS

Required textbook: Stallings, Data and Computer Communications, 6th Ed., Prentice Hall, 2000 or 7th Ed., Prentice Hall, 2004
Required project book: Pullen, Understanding Internet Protocols, Wiley, 2000

References (available in library):
1. Comer, Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. I, 3^rd Ed., Prentice-Hall, 1996
2. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, 3rd Ed., Prentice-Hall, 1996

Course communication: we will use email extensively. Students are responsible to read email daily. Announcements will be sent to the class email list, which consists of GMU email accounts. If you want to receive your class email at a different address, send email to the instructor requesting this.

Course notices and assignments will be provided via email. Students are responsible to have an email account and provide an address to the instructor. osf1.gmu.edu or other email addresses may also be used. Course materials (for example, homework solutions) will be available though the course webpage, http://netlab.gmu.edu/compnets. Students are responsible for assigned readings and all material outlined in lecture slides.

Internet-based course delivery: classes will be available on computer desktops at home or office by using dial-up through GMU Internet facilities. See http://netlab.gmu.edu/disted. All classes may be taken over the network, however students must appear in person for midterm and final exams.