CSC/ECE 573 — Internet Protocols

Lecture slides, assignments, and solutions available from the course Moodle space

Fall 2019 Schedule of Lectures

Date	Lecture #	Topic	Assignment	Due
Aug 22	1	Overview, goals, logistics
Aug 27	2	Introduction: Internet, network edge, packet vs circuit switching, network core Chapter 1.1-1.3
Aug 29	3	Intro (cont'd): delay, loss, throughput, protocol layers, attacks, history Chapter 1.4-1.7
Sep 3	4
Sep 5	5
Sep 10	6
Sep 12	7
Sep 17	8
Sep 19	9
Sep 24	10
Sep 26	11
Oct 1	12
Oct 3	13
Oct 8	—	Midterm exam
Oct 10	—	No class (fall break)
Oct 15	14
Oct 17	15
Oct 22	16
Oct 24	17
Oct 29	18
Oct 31	19
Nov 5	20
Nov 7	21
Nov 12	22
Nov 14	23
Nov 19	24
Nov 21	25
Nov 26	26
Nov 28	—	No class (Thanksgiving Holiday)
Dec 3	27
Dec 5	28
Dec 10 1-4pm	—	Final exam

 

Syllabus

Prerequisites

Students who wish to take this course must have completed a graduate level course in Computer Networks (CSC/ECE 570 or equivalent).

Students must also have good working knowledge of a high-level programming language such as C, C++, or JAVA. The programming projects can be challenging, hence good programming experience is required.

Objectives

This course deals with the principles and issues underlying the provision of wide area connectivity through the interconnection of autonomous networks. Emphasis will be placed on Internet architecture and protocols as they are today and as they are likely to evolve in the future. Case studies of particular protocols will demonstrate how fundamental principles are applied in practice. They will also provide the opportunity to practice a critical skill: shifting through details for the key idea. The functional requirements of internetworking will be motivated by selected examples of networked client/server applications. The projects are designed to give you first hand experience in building networked applications and/or in analyzing and evaluating the performance of protocols and applications.

At the conclusion of the course you should be able to:

• demonstrate understanding of the fundamental problems, tradeoffs, and design issues that arise in internetworking, as well as identify and critically evaluate internet technologies, solution approaches, and design methodologies for future network architectures;
• understand the details of several particular protocols, as example implementations of fundamental principles, and digest descriptions of specific protocols, extracting the fundamental concepts;
• design and implement complex networked applications, protocols, and algorithms, and use the socket interface;
• apply basic concepts to new networking environments; and
• engage in original research in the area of computer networks.

I encourage and expect you to participate actively in the learning process. In particular, I welcome your comments and questions as we cover material in class. One-way lectures quickly become boring, both for you and for me. By asking lots of questions your understanding of the material will be deepened significantly, and the course will be much more fun!

Outline

The course will cover the application, transport, network, and data link layers of the Internet protocol stack (layers 5 through 2, in ISO parlance):

• application layer (web and HTTP, ftp, mail, DNS, P2P file sharing) and socket programming
• transport layer (UDP and TCP), congestion control
• network layer (virtual circuits vs. datagrams, router operation and design, Internet Protocol), routing algorithms, routing protocols in the Internet, broadcast and multicast routing
• data link layer (error detection and correction, multiple access protocols, addressing, technologies), Ethernet, PPP, hubs and switches, link virtualization

Textbook

Students are required to purchase the following textbook:

• J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, Computer Networking, 7th ed., Pearson. ISBN: 0-13-359414-9

I also suggest the following two books as reference:

• W. R. Stevens, TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol. 1: The Protocols, Addison-Wesley.
• W. R. Stevens, UNIX Network Programming, Prentice Hall
• D. E. Comer, Internetworking with TCP/IP, Vol. 1: Principles, Protocols, and Architectures, Prentice Hall

I will also make available an extensive set of lecture slides.

Grading

Students are required to complete all assignments and show all work in order to receive full credit. The final grade will be determined using the following weights:

• 30% — Two programming projects (15% each)
• 10% — Lab assignment
• 15% — Homework assignments (of equal weight)
• 20% — Midterm exam (closed book)
• 25% — Final exam (comprehensive, closed book)

Policies

Attendance: Attendance is not mandatory but strongly encouraged. Students are responsible for making up any course material they miss.

Assignments: No hard copies of assignments or solutions will be handed out. New assignments and solutions will be announced in class and/or the course mailing list, and will be available on the course web page.

Submission: Students must submit their assignments as PDF or Word files using the submit facility. The deadline for submission is midnight (Eastern time) on the day due. Any deadline extensions are up to the discretion of the instructor, and will be announced to the whole class. Extensions may be provided to individual students only in advance of the submission deadline and only under extenuating circumstances.

Late Submission: No late assignments will be accepted and no partial credit will be given for late assignments without a valid excuse.

Cheating: Homework and projects are individual assignments and students are required to submit their own solutions. All students are bound by the University's academic integrity policies (refer to the relevant section below).

Teaching Assistant

Yuepeng Qi and Malayaz Sachdeva are the TAs for this course. Their office hours are:

• Yuepeng (yqi@ncsu.edu): M/W 10:30-11:30am in Room 3045 of the EB2 building.
• Malayaz (msachde@ncsu.edu): Th 12-1pm and F 11am-12noon, in Room 1229B of the EB2 building.

Alternatively, you may contact them to arrange for a meeting or online chat at a mutually convenient time.

Feel free to contact the TAs for any questions about the course.

Office Hours

My office is in Room 2306 of the EB II building.

My office hours are 4:15-5:00pm on Mondays and Wednesdays. Distance students may either call me during those times, or may arrange to stop by or call at a different mutually convenient time.

Academic Integrity

Students are required to respect the NC State academic integrity policies.