Course Information

CS 3516: Computer Networks
Time: B-Term, Tuesdays and Fridays, 2:00pm to 3:50pm
Location: Atwater Kent 233

Course Catalog Description

This course provides a broad view of computer networks. The course exposes students to all seven layers of OSI Reference Model while providing an introduction into newer topics such as wireless networking and Internet traffic concerns. The objective is to focus on an understanding of fundamental concepts of modern computer network architecture from a design and performance perspective. Topics covered include: physical layer considerations, network protocols, wide area networks, local area networks, wireless networks, switches and routing, congestion, Internet traffic and network security. Students will be expected to do extensive systems/network programming and will be expected to make use of simulation and measurement tools to gain an appreciation of current network design and performance issues. This course is also highly recommended for RBE and IMGD majors. Recommended background: CS 2301 or CS 2303, or a significant knowledge of C/C++.

Teaching Staff

Course Instructor: Craig Shue
Email: please post via the class discussion board
Office: Fuller Labs 236
Office Hours (via Zoom): Mondays, 2pm-3pm and Thursdays, 11am-12pm. Appointments also available.

Student Assistant: Ashley Burke
Office: Zoom
Office Hours: Tuesdays, 4pm-6pm and Fridays, 9am-11am

Student Assistant: Dyllan Cole
Office: Zoom
Office Hours: Wednesdays, 1pm-3pm and Fridays, 12pm-2pm

Teaching Assistant: Shuwen Liu
Office: Zoom
Office Hours: Mondays, 9am-11am and Wednesdays, 3pm-5pm

Pandemic-related Format and Policies

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted higher education broadly and the format of instruction in particular. While the intention is for this course to be offered in person, WPI may respond to the pandemic with transitions to remote and online instruction. Further, the course instructor will evaluate the situation on campus and, at his discretion, determine whether to convert to an online/in-person hybrid format. Such a decision will be communicated via InstructAssist and is subject to revision as needed. The safety of all participants will be the key consideration in all such decisions.

This class will make use of remote office hours via Zoom. This was found to be preferable for students in previous offerings of the class due to its screen-sharing potential.

Lecture Schedule and Readings

This schedule is subject to change. Any changes will be announced in class with at least one week's advance notice, when possible. All readings are out of Peter Dordall's An Introduction to Computer Networks unless otherwise noted. All readings are due before class on the date indicated. Students are expected to have read the readings prior to arriving for class.

Course Policies and Procedures

The following represent the official policies and procedures for the course. Please review this information and discuss any questions with the professor as soon as possible.

Textbooks

Required: An Introduction to Computer Networks, Peter L. Dordal, Revision 2.0.5, Sept. 2021
Optional: Beej's Guide to Network Programming using Internet Sockets

Official Communication

Class discussion, class hand-outs, posts on the class forum, emails to the student's WPI email account, and the course Web pages are avenues for official course communication. Students are responsible for any information distributed through any of these venues.

Class Email and Forum

Students must check their WPI email daily. The instructor and TAs will use email to send urgent information to the class. Classmates collaborating on teams may also use email to coordinate efforts, so checking email periodically will be essential for timely responses.

Students should post all questions about the course on the class discussion board. The teaching staff will use the discussion board to keep track of assistance requests. Further, posts on the discussion board will be available to all students by default, allowing everyone to learn from these questions.

By default, all students will be subscribed to receive email copies of the classwide announcements sent by the teaching staff. Students may unsubscribe from non-urgent postings by adjusting their profile settings. Students are responsible for all announcements, even if they elect not to receive email copies.

If a question is of a more personal or private nature, students can choose to create a new discussion topic and select the "Visible by Invitation Only" topic privacy option. Any communication in that topic will be visible only to the Instructor, the TAs, the student creating the topic, and any individuals the student explicitly invites to the topic. This approach will allow students to have a private discussion with the staff while still allowing the staff to keep track of unresolved issues and address them in a timely fashion.

Programming Assignments

The CS Department Documentation Format should be considered when programming. In general, code must be clean and organized. It must be appropriately commented as well. During project demonstrations, students may be graded on their ability to accurately describe what a code segment does, so students are well-advised to aim for clairity in their programming.

Submissions must include a README file and a Makefile for compilation. All programs must compile and execute on the provided virtual machines. Programs that do not compile, or programs lacking commenting, will not be graded and will be assigned a score of 0.

Programming Languages

Students with a strong computer science background develop the ability to quickly pick up a new programming language as needed. This provides them the flexibility to adapt to changing work requirements and the ability to recognize the most efficient tool for the job. Students pick up these abilities through exposure to different programming languages, especially those that serve as the model for future languages.

In this course, we will be using C and/or C++. These languages are the basis of many common operating systems and network programs, with operating system APIs designed with these languages in mind. While most other languages have a networking component to them, they abstract the details and prevent students from realizing what is happening "under the covers."

Students without experience in these languages will have to develop it concurrently with learning network programming. This can be challenging, but is a good way to gain exposure to the language. The C Programming Language, by Kernighan and Ritchie, (ISBN: 0-13-110362-8) is the de facto standard guide to programming in C and provides a good reference in addition to the textbook.

Course Participation and Professionalism

During lectures, students are to be focused on the course. Students should not use materials or electronic devices that would inhibit their attention to the course lecture and discussion. Laptops may only be used for note-taking purposes; transmission capabilities on these devices must be disabled and only appropriate note-taking application may be used in class. Mobile devices, such as phones or PDAs, are not to be used in class. Significant penalities may be assessed for repeated infractions.

Students must treat each other and the teaching staff with respect at all times. Disagreement, debates, and criticism of ideas are healthy aspects of academic environments; however, students should avoid demeaning language or comments which can be taken personally. The ability to handle conflict professionally and work with a variety of people is an acquired skill, yet is increasingly important in technical careers.

Late Submission

Programming projects may be submitted late, but with significant penalties. Programs that are late by a certain amount of time, denoted as t, will incur the following penalties:

I exclude weekend days (Saturday and Sunday) and university-recognized breaks from the count of late days. However, programs are due at the exact time specified.

Any programs submitted after 4pm on Thursday, December 16, 2021 will not be graded.

Course Grading

The course programming assignments and video responses form the basis for 95% of the course grade. The remaining 5% of the course grade will be attributed to in class participation and professionalism associated with the course. Details on each of these components are as follows:

• Video Responses (47.5%): Ahead of each class meeting, students will be asked to read relevant research papers and view pre-recorded lecture segments. Students will then be asked to record video responses to four questions/prompts and submit them for grading. Each response may be no more than 60 seconds and should answer the question/prompt as thoroughly (yet concisely) as possible. Each response will be graded on technical accuracy, completeness, display of mastery of the material, and presentation effectiveness. After the submission deadline, the teaching staff will choose specific questions/prompts and grade all student submission for those questions/prompts. Other responses will not be graded. Students will not be informed in advance as to which prompts will be selected for grading and are thus expected to submit high-quality responses to all prompts/questions.
   
  While the video responses will be used for assesment, they also intended to serve as a learning opportunity since it requires students to contemplate and distill the material. Students must create their video responses on their own. They may consult research papers, the instructor's videos, and textbooks in preparing their materials. However, they must not consult other individuals, including other students in the class or via Internet forums, while completing the assignment. Students must determine how best to present the materials, including metaphors/analogies or visual aids, independently.
   
• Projects (47.5%): There will be multiple programming projects in the course to allow students to apply concepts. These projects may be done individually or in pairs unless otherwise indicated. Projects may have different point values and projects may have "checkpoint" deliverables in which students must show substantial progress towards completing the project.
   
• Participation and Professionalism (5%): Students are expected to be engaged in class, answer questions from the instructor, and ask questions when needed. Students must regularly attend classes and attend the project demonstration times they schedule. Students meeting the basic participation requirements should expect an 85% in this category; participation beyond the minimum can yield a higher score. Participation can be via office hours, on the course forum, or in class. Disregard for course policies or unprofessional conduct with students or the teaching staff will be penalized.
   

Student Accessibility Services

Students with approved academic accommodations should plan to submit their accommodation letters through the Office of Accessibility Services Student Portal. Should you have any questions about how accommodations can be implemented in this particular course, please contact me as soon as possible. Students who are not currently registered with the Office of Accessibility Services (OAS) but who would like to find out more information regarding requesting accommodations and what that entails should plan to contact them via email: AccessibilityServices@wpi.edu and/or via phone: (508) 831-4908.

Academic Integrity

The WPI Academic Integrity Policy describes types of academic dishonesty and requirements in documentation. In the case of academic dishonesty, I am required to report the incident to the Dean of Student Affairs. Further, my penalty for academic dishonesty is to assign a NR grade for the course.

In this class, students may not look at any previous versions of a course assignment or project, regardless of how it is posted. If a student accidentally discovers such a posting, they must report it to the instructor immediately, avoid the resource in the future, and delete any copies that are cached on their computer.

Students are likewise forbidden from facilitating other students, current or future, in plaigarism or cheating. Students may not distribute their code publicly on the Internet, or in other means, during the term or even after the class has concluded. Students may share their code with potential employers or other individuals privately, so long as the code would not become available to other WPI students.