CS 555: Computer Networks

Fall 2003

Class meeting time: TR 9:30 - 11AM in CAS 316.

Office: MCS 280
Phone: 617-353-8925
Email: byers @ cs.bu.edu

Office Hours: Tues: 11 - 12:30, Thurs: 3:00 - 4:30.

Teaching Fellows: Manish Sharma and Gu-In Kwon

Manish's Office Hours: Mon: 2 - 4, Fri: 11 - 12
Office: MCS B20
Email: manishrs @ cs.bu.edu

Gu-In's Lab Hours: Tues 4-7 (only when programming assignments are due).
Location: Undergraduate programming lab.
Email: guin @ cs.bu.edu

Grader: Mina Guirguis

Email: msg @ cs.bu.edu

Course Overview: This course serves as a graduate introduction to computer networks and is suitable for beginning graduate students and seniors. The course will investigate the design of computer networks and network protocols, from both a conceptual and a design standpoint. The primary focus of the course will be on the software used behind the scenes to build scalable, general-purpose data networks. Expect us to cover the overwhelming majority of the topics in the Peterson and Davie text. Major topics of this course will include:

Protocol layering
Internet design principles and methodology
TCP/IP implementation
Naming and addressing
Unicast and multicast routing
Congestion control and flow control
Rate allocation policies, i.e. fairness, QoS
Advanced network protocols

CS 555 is the first course in a two-semester networking sequence. The second course in the sequence, CS 556, covers advanced topics in greater depth and provides more hands-on experience with network programming, both at endhosts and at network routers.

Textbook: The technical, in-depth coverage of network protocols is a hallmark of our required textbook by L. Peterson and B. Davie, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, 3rd Edition , Morgan Kaufmann, 2003. Please purchase the new third edition with the black cover rather than the blue-covered second edition used in years past.

Prerequisites: CS 350 and MA 294 are essential prerequisites for taking CS 555, while CS 330 is also a strongly recommended co-requisite. Please consult the instructor if you are at all uncertain about your preparation.

The following class schedule is updated on a regular basis to reflect what we have covered so far.

Handouts:

August 20: Syllabus (ps, pdf)
9/8: Homework 1 (ps, pdf). Due 9/18. Mean grade was 29.7/40.
9/18: Homework 1 solutions (ps, pdf).
9/19: Homework 2 (ps, pdf). Due 10/2. Mean grade was 34.3/40.
10/2: Homework 2 solutions (Q1, Q2-Q4).
10/7: Programming Assignment 1. Due 10/30. Mean grade was 72/100.
10/8: Homework 3 (ps, pdf). Due 10/21. Mean grade was 39.1/50.
10/9: Sample midterm questions (ps, pdf).
10/21: Homework 3 solutions (ps, pdf).
11/7: Homework 4 (ps, pdf). Due 11/18. Mean grade was 43.7/50.
11/7: Programming Assignment 2. Due 12/8.
11/18: Homework 4 solutions (ps, pdf).
11/7: Homework 5 (ps, pdf). Due 12/11.
12/11: Homework 5 solutions (ps, pdf).
12/11: Sample final questions (ps, pdf).