COS 461

Schedule

  • This schedule and syllabus is preliminary and subject to change. Chapter and section numbers refer to the Peterson and Davie (P&D) text available online.
  • All deadlines are hard and no extensions are granted without College Dean’s consultation.
  • Per Rights, Rules, Responsibilities (2020), students “may not engage in the...distribution—online of by any other means—of syllabi, assignments, examinations, abstracts, or notes or transcriptions of the lectures and other course-related materials or required reading in any course of instruction in the University.”

Date Topics Media Readings
Fundamentals: Networking Overview and Layers
Tue 9/1 Course Overview [slides] 1.1–1.5 inclusive. Optional reading: Internet history
Thu 9/3 Link Layer [slides] 2.1–2.6 inclusive. Optional reading: Beej's guide
Tue 9/8 Network Layer [slides] 3.3. Optionally read Design Philosophy of the DARPA Internet Protocols
Thu 9/10 Network Devices: Switches and Routers [slides] 3.1 (Switches)
Tue 9/15 Transport Layer and TCP [slides] 5.1 (UDP), 5.2 (TCP)
Resource Allocation in the Network
Thu 9/17 Congestion Control in Hosts [slides] 6.3 (TCP Congestion Control)
Fri 9/18 Assignment 1 (Sockets) due at 11:59 PM
Tue 9/22 Queue Management on Links [slides] 6.2 (Queuing Disciplines), 6.4.1 (Active Queue Management)
Thu 9/24 Middleboxes and Tunneling [slides] 8.5 (Firewalls), 3.3.9 (Tunnels), NAT
Discovering Network Routes to Remote End-Points
Tue 9/29 Routing Algorithms [slides] 3.4, 4.4
Thu 10/1 Routing Convergence [slides] 4.1
Fri 10/2 Assignment 2 (TCP Congestion Control) due at 11:59 PM
Tue 10/6 Interdomain Routing
Midterm Exam 1 Released at 9:00 AM		 [slides]
Thu 10/8 No Lecture (work on take-home midterm)
Fri 10/9 Socially-Distanced Midterm Exam 1, DUE at 11:59 PM
Tue 10/13 No Class (Fall Recess)
Thu 10/15 Network Measurement [slides]
Tue 10/20 Multicast and Anycast [slides] 4.3 (Multicast)
Wed 10/21 Assignment 3 (Passive Network Measurement) due at 11:59 PM
HTTP and Content Delivery
Thu 10/22 Discovery and DNS [slides] 9.3.1 (DNS)
Tue 10/27 HTTP and the Web [slides] 9.1.2 (HTTP)
Thu 10/29 Content Distribution Networks [slides] 9.4.3 (CDNs)
Network Security and Specialized Networks
Tue 11/3 Wireless I: Medium Access (ALOHA, MACA) [slides] 2.7 (Wireless)
Wed 11/4 Assignment 4 (Port Scanning) due at 11:59 PM
Thu 11/5 Software-Defined Networking [slides]
Tue 11/10 Wireless II: Routing (DSDV, DSR) [slides]
Thu 11/12 Security I: Concepts and Applications [slides] 8.5.3–8.5.4 (TLS and IPSec)
Tue 11/17 Security II: Network Security [slides]
Wed 11/18 Assignment 5 (HTTP Proxy) due at 11:59 PM
Thu 11/19 Datacenter Networks [slides]
Tue 11/24 Course Wrap-Up
Final Day of Regularly-Scheduled Classes; Thanksgiving recess begins after last class		 [slides]
Reading Period: Monday 11/30–Tuesday 12/8
Thu 12/3 Midterm Exam 2 released at 9:00 AM
Tue 12/8 Socially-Distanced Midterm Exam 2, DUE at 5:00 PM.
Dean's Date: Tuesday 12/8