CS 656

Data Communications and Networking

George Mason University

Department of Computer Science

Meeting time: Monday 4:30 - 7:10 pm.

Meeting location:  ST-I Room 126

Course homepage



Instructor: Dr. Robert Simon
Office: ST-II, Rm. 423
Phone: (703)-993-1556
E-mail:simon AT cs DOT gmu dot edu


Course Description:

The course will present data communications fundamentals and computer networking methods, using the ISO 7-layer reference model to organize the study. Attention will be focused on the protocols of the physical, data link control, network, and transport layers, for local and wide area networks. Emphasis will be given to the Internet Protocol Suite. Some advanced topics, such as network security, wireless and mobile computing networks, will also be covered. Students will program simplified versions of the protocols as a part of the course project.

Distance Learning


This course is delivered to the Internet section online by Network EducationWare (NEW). Students in all sections have accounts on
NEW and can play back the lectures and download the PDF slide files at http://disted.ite.gmu.edu.

Prerequisites:

Required textbooks:


 

Homework and Project

Homework assignments are on a semi-regular basis. We will use a network simulator, Network Workbench (NW), for course projects. This simulator enables the study and implementation of various networking protocols in a "virtual reality", where network devices (namely, routers and switches) are simulated and your protocol implementations can be tested and debugged. The official platform is site-unix (meaning that the TA will grade your projects on that platform). On site-unix, the current version of NW, nw42, can be found at /home/courses/csnets/nw42. (Note that, for security reasons, you can login into site-unix only from osf1.) To install nw42 in your home director, follow the instructions in /home/courses/csnets/nw42/Sun-setup.txt.

Alternatively, you can install NW on your PC from netlab.gmu.edu/NW. Note that site-unix is the only official platform. You are responsible for resolving any compatibility issues before submitting to site-unix (although we expect few such problems).


 

Grading 

Examination Rules:

The GMU honor code and the CS honor code applies.  Further, no early exams will be offered.   If you must miss an exam then you must provide a written, verifiable excuse. No makeup exams will be offered until your excuse is verified.