COURSE INFORMATION

Course: CSCE 952, Advanced Computer Networks, 3 credits, Sec. 001, Call #2974, Fall 2008.

Lecture: MW 2:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m., 118 Avery Hall.

Instructor: Byrav Ramamurthy, 108 Schorr Center, 472-7791.

Office Hours: MW 3:45 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. and by appt., 108 Schorr Center.

Prerequisite: Course Communication Networks (CSCE 462/862) or equivalent.

Grading: Letter; pretest (2%), quizzes (8%), homework assignments (30%), midterm exam I(15%), midterm exam II (15%), final project (30%).

Course Description:

This is an advanced-level course on the recent developments in computer networks. The topics to be covered include current topics of research and development such as Routing, Congestion Control, Multicasting and Resource Reservation in the Internet, Wireless Networks, including wireless ad hoc networks, Peer-to-peer networks (P2P), Performance Study of Computer Networks, and if time permits, Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) and Network Security. This is a graduate class and hence, the emphasis will be on in-depth critical analysis of (a few) current research problems and proposed solutions. We do not attempt to provide a broad overview of the entire area of computer networking!

We will have a special emphasis on Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks including topics such as addressing, traffic management, multimedia streaming and security in P2P networks.

Course Handouts:

Any handouts distributed in class will also be in the class directory ~cse952 on   cse.unl.edu, or in subdirectories; see the README file in each directory for more information. You can also access the handouts either via the World Wide Web; the URL is http://cse.unl.edu/~byrav/CSCE952 and the UNL class system at http://www-class.unl.edu/csce952

Class Newsgroup:

Information about this class, homework assignments, office hours, and so forth, will be posted to the newsgroup unl.engr.ee.952 newsgroup. Read this newsgroup daily, especially near the time assignments are due. You are responsible for reading everything posted to this newsgroup. Discussing something in this group is perfectly fair! If you have any questions about the course (class, homework, exams, etc.), you should post it to this newsgroup, rather than sending e-mail to me. If you have a question about the homework, you are probably not alone. So, please post such questions to discussion newsgroup, except under the following circumstances:

In no case should you post anything that gives away the answer to a homework question.

Textbooks

Larry L. Peterson and Bruce S. Davie, Computer Networks - A Systems Approach (Fourth edition), Morgan-Kaufmann, 2003, ISBN 1-55860-832-X (Required).

Bruce Davie and Yakov Rekhter, MPLS: Technology and Applications, Morgan-Kaufmann, May 2000, ISBN 1-55860-656-4 (Recommended)

W. Richard Stevens, UNIX Network Programming, Volume 1: Networking APIs - Sockets and XTI, Second edition, Prentice Hall Professional Technical Reference, October 1997, ISBN 0-13-490012-X. (Recommended)

Articles from recent journals and conferences will be assigned throughout the semester. Relevant chapters from other textbooks will also be made available, as necessary.

Homework Assignments

There will be 4 homework assignments in this class. There will be simulation and/or programming based questions in these assignments. You will have around two weeks to turn in each homework.

Quizzes
In-class quizzes may be conducted several times during the semester.

Final Project

The final project is the most important part of this class! This is your opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the subject material and your abilities as a researcher. You may team up with two other partners, if you choose to, in doing your projects. Naturally, a lot more will be expected from such collaborative projects! Your projects may be of any one (or more!) of the following types:

The focus of the project is to stimulate creative thinking and originality! If you are not able to come up with a project on your own, you may choose from a list of projects which will be made available to you at a later date. You are encouraged to discuss project ideas with me early on in the semester!

More information regarding the project will be made available through the CSCE 952 Project Page through Final Project link on the course webpage.

Academic Integrity

All submitted work must be your own contribution and nobody else's! Collaboration in homeworks and exams are not allowed. Unless you are part of a team, collaboration in a project is also not allowed. You may, however, discuss project ideas with others before you turn in your project proposal.

Exams

Midterm exam I, Week of October 13 (in class).

Midterm exam II Second half of November (in class).

Examination must be taken at the times above; there are no make-up examinations, except for health reasons.

Regrades

In general, papers/assignments to be considered for regrades must be turned in no later than one week after the graded papers/assignments were made available, not from when the student picked up her or his paper. Similarly, any misrecorded grades must be reported within a week of their posting, except as will be announced at the end of the semester. Note, that you may not (re)submit any material during the regrading process.

Questions?

Please send e-mail to me, byrav@cse.unl.edu (to be read by the instructor only!) or post them on the newsgroup, unl.engr.ee.952 for the class (preferred!). Urgent announcements to the class will be sent by email to the class mailing list: cse952-ml@cse.unl.edu.

This document is available on-line at http://cse.unl.edu/~byrav/CSCE952/CSCE952.course-outline.html.

The password-protected course webpage is at http://www-class.unl.edu/csce952/index.html.