CS 640, Spring 2026: 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 01/20	Course logistics. Networks overview.	P&D Chapter 1 (1.1, 1.2)	L1
Thu 01/22	Computer networks--a sw and hw perspective.	P&D Chapter 1 (1.3, 1.4)	L2
Tue 01/27	Network performance analysis.	P&D Chapter 1 (1.5)	L3
Thu 01/29	Encoding.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.1, 2.2)	L4	Lab1 out
Tue 02/03	Framing and error handling.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.3.1, 2.3.2, 2.4)	L5
Thu 02/05	No Class.
Tue 02/10	L2 switching.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.1.1, 3.2.1, 3.2.2, 3.2.3)	L6
Thu 02/12	Ethernet.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.6)	L7	Quiz1
Tue 02/17	L2 reliable transmission.	P&D Chapter 2 (2.5.1, 2.5.2)	L8	Lab2 out
Thu 02/19	IP introduction.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.4)	L9
Tue 02/24	Efficient addressing.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.3.3, 3.3.5, 3.3.6, 3.3.7, 3.3.8)	L10
Thu 02/26	Distance vector routing.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.4.1, 3.4.2)	L11
Tue 03/03	Link state routing.	P&D Chapter 3 (3.4.3, 3.4.4)	L12
Thu 03/05	Software-defined networking.	OpenFlow	L13	Quiz2
Tue 03/10	Inter-domain routing.	P&D Chapter 4 (4.1)	L14	Lab3 out
Thu 03/12	NAT, IPv6, and Multicast	P&D Chapter 4 (4.2.1, 4.2.2, 4.2.3, 4.3.1)	L15
Tue 03/17	Transport introduction.	P&D Chapter 5 (5.1, 5.2.1, 5.2.2)	L16
Thu 03/19	TCP connection management.	P&D Chapter 5 (5.2.3)	L17
Tue 03/24	TCP reliability support (I).	P&D Chapter 2 and 5 (2.5.2, 5.2.4)
Thu 03/26	TCP reliability support (II).	P&D Chapter 2 and 5 (2.5.2, 5.2.4)		Quiz3
Tue 03/31	Spring Break.
Thu 04/02	Spring Break.
Tue 04/07
Thu 04/09
Tue 04/14
Thu 04/16
Tue 04/21
Thu 04/23
Tue 04/28
Thu 04/30
Fri 05/08	Final Exam.