Syllabus

Course Information
Course title Advanced Computer Networks
Course number CS 6390
Course discipline Computer Science/Computer Engineering
Course CS 6390 (CE 6390) Advanced Computer Networks (3 semester hours) Survey of
description recent advancements in high-speed network technologies. Application of
quantitative approach to the study of broadband integrated networks including
admission control, access control, and quality of service guarantee. Prerequisite: CS
5390. (3-0) S
Location T Th, 7-8:15 pm, ECSS 2.305
Prerequisite(s) CS 5390 or equivalent (a basic networks course, in particular, I assume you have
detailed knowledge of routing and the sliding window protocol. You should know
everything in sections 2.5 and 4.2 of the book, you should also know in general how
the Internet works, e.g., IP addressing and routing)
Instructor Information
Name Jorge Arturo Cobb
Email cobb@utdallas.edu
Office location ECSS 4.406 (the new engineering building).
Office hours T 8:30pm-9:30pm, Th 12:30pm - 1:30pm (Walk-ins are very welcome, but I only
guarantee to be in the office during office hours).
Phone 972 883 2479
Fax 972 883 2349
Teaching Lie Qian lqian@utdallas.edu
assistants
TA office hours Wednesday 2:00PM - 6:00PM at ECSS3.402.
Course Materials
Computer Networks: a systems approach by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie
Text Book
(Morgan Kaufmann Publishers http://www.mkp.com)
Reading Multiple papers from the literature. These and slides will be available on webct
Materials http://webct.utdallas.edu
Assignments
(This information is subject to change)
Midterm Exam Two "midterm" exams, counting 20% to your grade each (40 % total)
Homeworks Two homework assignments, 10% of your grade each (20% total)
One programming project, 15% of your grade. The nature of the programming
Project project to be determined later, and depends on the resources available to students
enrolled in the course.
Final Exam One final exam, counting 25% of your grade.
Total 100 %
Miscellaneous (but important!)
1. Please, don't be afraid to ask questions. Feel free to ask questions in class (I get bored
alone up there). Furthermore, I have this nasty habit of speaking very quickly, so I
know a few of you will miss some things I say. If so, please ask me to repeat what I
have said. I will be happy to do so.You can ask me questions via the discussions tool
webct (which is great since ALL other students will be able to see the question and the
answer). I prefer you do not send me email, because if you do others will not benefit
from the answer I give you to the question. Email should be reserved for private
issues, such as grading concerns, etc.. If you do send me email, please use the WEBCT
email tool and not regular Internet email. This way I can keep the email from the class
separate from all the spam I get in my regular email account.
2. No late homeworks! However, you can prearrange with me to turn it in late in case you
are travelling a lot (interviews or job related). This has to be prearranged with me
before the due date of the homework. No exceptions, unless there is an emergency
(and it really should be an emergency).
3. No late exams either. The same rule above for homeworks applies to exams.
4. NOTE: if you use the WEBCT discussions tool, ALL students will see what you
posted, so DON'T ask details about your homework solutions there. Use email
instead.
5. I do not have the dates of each exam determined yet. The first exam will likely be after
about one third of the semester is over, and the second exam about after two thirds of
the semester are over. The date of the final exam will be during the week of final
exams at UTD. The location should be in the same classroom as the regular class. The
date and time may be found in
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/class/spring/final.htm. Note that the time/day
may be different than the time/day of the class. Also, DO NOT LEAVE the
country until AFTER the final exams week. If you have plans to leave on vacation,
get married, etc., do so AFTER the final exam week please.
6. You should do all your work (homeworks, projects, exams) on your own. Working with
others in homeworks/projects is considered unethical (i.e., cheating). Also, unethical
behavior (i.e., cheating) regarding exams will not be tolerated. Unethical behavior in
homeworks, projects, or exams will be dealt with according to university policies and
could lead to your dismissal from the university.
7. Explain all your answers in your exams. A yes or no answer is not sufficient (i.e., I
don't know if you are guessing). If you don't explain your answer with a few sentences
in English or if you do not give the correct explanation for your answer, you may not
get full credit for the question or get no credit at all!
8. During exams, you are not allowed calculators (unless explicitly overruled by me for a
specific exam), beepers or cell phones. Why not beepers or cell phones? People have
been know during an exam to go to the "restroom" and send beeper messages to all
their friends with answers to questions in the exam (no kidding!).
Outline of Course Materials

We will not follow the book precisely, since many topics are from papers in the literature.
Nonetheless, we will follow about the same outline as the second part of the book. In
general, the topics are as follows: (subject to change during the semester)
l Internet Architecture
l Internetwork Routing (BGP)
l Multlicast Routing
l Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)
l Mobile Routing
l TCP
l Congestion Control
l Quality of Service
l Peer-to-peer networks
l Other topics as time allows.