Computer Networks

The dynamic field of computer networking involves many concepts, protocols, and technologies that are woven together in an intricate manner. The Internet is the largest computer network that interconnects hundreds of millions of computing devices throughout the world. This course will use the Internet as the principal vehicle for discussing computer networks and their protocols. Despite the fact that the Internet is extremely large and has numerous diverse components and uses, there exist guiding principles and structures that can provide a foundation for understanding such an amazingly large and complex system. This course will equip you with a modern introduction to the subject of computer networking while exploring its underlying principles and structures rigorously. The topics that we cover in the course are:

• Network architecture, layering, and protocols
  • Components of a Computer Network (and the Internet).
  • The Network Edge: Client and Server Programs
  • Access Network Technologies
  • The Network Core: Circuit Switching and Packet Switching. Internet Service Providers      (ISPs) and Internet Backbones
• Data Communication Fundamentals
  • Data Transmission Concepts and Terminology. 
  • Analog and Digital Transmission. 
  • Transmission Impairments. 
  • Channel Capacity: Data rate, Bandwidth, Noise, and Error rate.
  • Transmission Media. Guided Transmission media. Wireless Transmission.
  • Signal Encoding Technique. Digital/Analog Data to Digital/Analogue Signals. 
  • Digital Data Communication Techniques. Synchronous vs Asynchronous. 
• The Link Layer and Local Area Networks
  • Link Layer Introduction and Services
  • Encoding, Synchronization, and Framing
  • Error Detection: parity checks, checksum methods, cyclic redundancy check (CRC)
  • Reliable Transmission: Stop-and-wait Protocols. Sliding-window Protocols.
  • Multiple Access Protocols: Channel Partitioning Protocols, Random Access Protocols (ALOHA), 
  • Taking-turns Protocols  
  • Link Layer Addressing: MAC addresses
  • Ethernet. Topology, Frame structure, and CSMA/CD MAC protocol.
  • LAN Extension: Link layer switches, packet switching.
• Network Layer: Internetworking
  • The Internet Protocol (IP). 
  • The IP service model. 
  • Routers. Subnets. Domain.
  • IPv4 Addressing. 
  • ARP Protocol
  • Dynamic Host configuration Protocol (DHCP)
  • Routing Algorithms. 
  • Intra-domain routing. Link-state routing. Distance-vector routing. RIP. OSPF.
  • Inter-domain routing. BGP 
• Transport Layer and Application Layer Protocols
  • Transport layer service model. 
  • Transport layer protocols: Connectionless transport (UDP), Connection-oriented transport (TCP)
  • Network Address Translation (NAT)
  • Application-level protocols: 
  • Web and HTTP, 
  • Simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), 
  • Domain name service (DNS), 
  • Socket Programming
  • Peer to Peer Applications