CS 640, Spring 2025: Introduction to Computer Networks

• CS 640 Home
• Syllabus
• Assignments

Textbooks

• Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Sixth edition, Opensource online version.

Additional References

• James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross, Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, Eighth Edition, Pearson, 2022.
• Andrew Tanenbaun, Nick Feamster, and David Wetherall, Computer Networks, Sixth Edition, Pearson, 2019.
• W. Richard Stevens, TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols, Second Edition, Addison-Wesley, 2011.

Grading

Your final grade for the course will be based on the following weights:

• 50% Labs
• 15% Quizzes
• 35% Exams

The course will be quite hands on. We will have 4 required labs. In general, the lab should be done in groups of 1-2. You should pick your own group members for your projects, but you may use the Canvas to help find group members.

We will have 1 final exam.

Schedule

Date	Topics	Readings	Notes	Remarks
Tue 01/21	Course logistics. Networks overview.	P&D Chapter 1 (1.1, 1.2)	L1
Thu 01/23	Computer networks--a sw and hw perspective.	P&D Chapter 1 (1.3, 1.4)	L2
Tue 01/28	Network performance analysis.	P&D Chapter 1 (1.5)	L3
Thu 01/30	No class.			Lab1 release
Tue 02/04	Encoding.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.1, 2.2)	L4
Thu 02/06	Framing and error handling.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.4)	L5
Tue 02/11	L2 switching.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.1.1, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3)	L6
Thu 02/13	Ethernet.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.6)	L7	Quiz1
Tue 02/18	L2 reliable transmission.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.5.1, 2.5.2)	L8	Lab2 release
Thu 02/20	IP introduction.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.4)	L9
Tue 02/25	Efficient addressing.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.3.3, 3.3.5, 3.3.6, 3.3.7, 3.3.8)
Thu 02/27	Distance vector routing.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.4.1, 3.4.2)
Tue 03/04
Thu 03/06
Tue 03/11
Thu 03/13
Tue 03/18
Thu 03/20
Tue 03/25	Spring Break.
Thu 03/27	Spring Break.
Tue 04/01
Thu 04/03
Tue 04/08
Thu 04/10
Tue 04/15
Thu 04/17
Tue 04/22
Thu 04/24
Tue 04/29
Thu 05/01
Tue 05/06	Final Exam.