Schafer School of Engineering & Science, Fall 2022
Meeting Times: 6:30pm - 9:00pm, Tuesday
Classroom Location: Babbio 220
Instructor: Professor James Xiaojiang Du
Contact Info: xdu16@stevens.edu
Office: Burchard 205, Office Hours: Tuesday 3:30pm - 5:30pm
Course Web Address:
Prerequisite(s): MA 134 Co-requisite(s): None
Cross-listed with: N/A
The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the fundamentals of computer networking, layering, protocols and applications. The course has an emphasis on the Internet and associated architectures. At the end of this course, students should be familiar with topics such as protocol layering, HTTP/S, DNS, SNMP, ICMP, TCP, UDP, BGP, Link State, Distance Vector, Medium Access, TDMA, FDMA, etc.
After successful completion of this course, students will be able to understand...
- The basic principles of computer networking, layering, protocols and applications;
- The Physical Layer Transmission Media, Wireless Transmission, Satellite Communications, Public Switched Telephone Network, Mobile Telephone System, Cable).
- Data Link Layer Design Issues, Error Detection and Correction.
- The Medium Access problem, TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, and 802.11 protocols
- The Network Layer Design Issues, Routing Algorithms, Congestion Control, Quality of Service, Internetworking, Network Layer in Internet
- The Transport Layer Service, UDP, TCP.
- The Application Layer (e.g., DNS, Voice over IP).
- How to choose different netowrk design choices and parameters
- How to evaluate network performance
This course is comprised of weekly lectures, in-class group exercises, technical paper reading & presentation.
Textbook: Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Computer Networks, 6th Edition, Pearson, 2019, ISBN-10: 0135408008, ISBN-13: 978-0135408001
Homework: There will be a few homework assignments throughout this course.
In-Class Exercise: There will be an In-Class Exercise in almost every class.
Technical Paper Reading & Presentation: You are required to read a recent research paper in the areas of computer networking or wireless networks. The paper list will be given later. The papers are from top networking conferences (such as IEEE Infocom, ICC, GlobeCom, ACM MobiCom, ACM MobiHoc, etc). The purpose of the Technical Paper Reading is to let students know the up-to-date research frontier in networking area. You need to prepare slides and talk about the main content of the paper.
Exams: There will be a mid-term exam and a final exam.
Homework.................................................... 5%
In-Class Exercise (No Make-up exercise will be allowed)... 15%
Technical Paper Reading & Presentation................... 20%
Midterm Exam............................................. 30%
Final Exam............................................... 30%