Instructor: Dr. Ken Christensen Department: Computer Science and Engineering Office location: ENB 319 Office hours: Monday through Thursday, 4:30pm to 5:30pm. Call or email
to schedule an appointment. Office phone: 974-4761 (can leave a message) Email: christen@csee.usf.edu Homepage: http://www.csee.usf.edu/~christen
Teaching Assistant: Yueng de la Hoz Department: Computer Science and Engineering Office location: ENB 325 Office hours: Tuesday and Wednesday, 11am to 12pm (Note that TA will
serve primarily as a grader) Email: yuengdelahoz@mail.usf.edu
Old catalog course description: Design and analysis of data communication
networks with an emphasis on the Internet and its protocols. Key topics include
protocol models, HTTP, TCP, IP, local area networks, routing, flow control,
multimedia networking, and performance evaluation.
Updated catalog course description: Design and analysis of communication
networks with an emphasis on the Internet and its protocols. Key topics include
protocol models, performance evaluation, and emerging areas.
Course prerequisites: Graduate standing in the Department is required. It
is hoped that the student has passed an undergraduate course in Computer
Networks (or has equivalent knowledge). A modest background in probability
and statistics and the ability to program well in "C" in necessary.
Required textbook:The required textbook is Performance Modeling of
Communication Networks with Markov Chains by Jeonghoon Mo (ISBN-10:
1598299174) (cost is roughly $35 at amazon.com, it is freely available from
the USF library as an online resource). Additional readings will come from
assigned papers (that will be available via the class website).
Required software:There is a required software package - CSIM20 from
Mesquite Software (cost is about $65). We will discuss this in class.
Course objectives:
As a result of successfully completing this course, a student will:
Understand the foundations of computer networks
Be able to evaluate the performance of a computer network using measurement,
analysis, and simulation.
Understand queueing theory and its application to modeling of computer
networks
Have a familiarity with important and emerging research areas in computer
networks
Course topics:
This course will cover the following topics:
Week 1: The Internet top down
Week 2: The Internet top down (continued)
Week 3: The Internet top down (continued)
Week 4: Performance evaluation
Week 5: Measurement
Week 6: Analytical modeling
Week 7: Queueing theory
Week 8: Queueing theory (continued)
Week 9: Midterm exam and Simulation modeling
Week 10: Simulation modeling (continued)
Week 11: Traffic characterization
Week 12: Hot topic #1 - traffic shaping and scheduling
Week 13: Hot topic #2 - software defined networking
Week 14: Hot topic #3 - sensor networks (aka the Internet of Things)
Grading: Students will earn a grade based on four mini-projects,
a midterm exam, a paper review, and a final exam. The grade breakdown is:
Mini-projects: 40% (due by 5pm on 09/26/14, 10/17/14, 11/14/14,
and 12/05/12).
Midterm exam: 20% (held on 10/20/14 in class)
Paper review: 10% (due by 5pm on 12/05/14)
Final exam: 30% (10am Wednesday 12/10/14 in classroom)
The grading scale is "no worse than" (note that there are no "+" or "-"
grades):
A = 90% through 100%
B = 80% through 89%
C = 70% through 79%
D = 60% through 69%
F = Less than 60%
Course policies:
Students in need of academic accommodations for a disability may consult
with the office of Students with Disabilities Services to arrange appropriate
accommodations. Students are required to give reasonable notice prior to
requesting an accommodation.
Late work will not be accepted.
Incomplete ("I") grades will only be given in the case of severe hardship
including verifiable medical emergencies or legal troubles. Simply being
"overloaded" and unable to complete your work is not grounds for an "I"
grade.
Out of courtesy to other students please make sure that you turn off, or
place in silent mode, your cell phone.
You may tape the lectures and take notes for personal use, but you may not
make monetary profit from the tapes and/or notes.
Academic integrity:
I expect students to be honest in their academic life. Students that are
dishonest will, at a minimum, earn an "F" in the course. I expect that
all software used for this course has been legally acquired and is used
according to license requirements. The ACM code of ethics is
http://www.acm.org/about/code-of-ethics
and the ACM definition of plagiarism is
http://www.acm.org/publications/policies/plagiarism_policy.
Read these documents. Be sure that you fully understand the contents of these
documents. Do not hesitate to ask questions on anything you do not understand.
