CS555 Computer Communications and Networking
| Instructor: |
Dr. Songqing Chen |
|
Office: |
445 S&T II |
|
Phone: |
703-993-3176 |
|
E-mail: |
sqchen AT cs dot gmu dot edu |
|
Office Hours: |
Tuesday 3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m, or by appointment |
|
Course Homepage: |
http://www.cs.gmu.edu/~sqchen/courses/CS555F07
|
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.
STAT 344, ability to program in C/C++.
- Required:
- William Stallings, Data and Computer Communications (8th Edition),
Prentice Hall, 2007.
- Pullen, Understanding Internet Protocols, Wiley, 2000.
- Recommended:
- James Jurose and Keith Ross, Computer Networking - A Top-Down
Approach Featuring the Internet (3rd Edition), Addison Wesley, 2004.
- OSI 7-layer model
- Signal encoding, modulation and multiplexing
- Flow/error control
- Medium access control
- Ethernet
- Routing
- Internet architecture
- TCP/UDP protocols
- Security, multicast, multimedia networking
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).
Your grade will be calcuated as follows:
- 20% Homeworks
- 15% Projects
- 25% Midterm exam
- 40% Final exam
GMU Academic Calendar
Final Exam Schedule
Honor Code
Disability Resource Center
Dr. Songqing Chen
Dept. of Computer Science
George Mason University