CS/ECE 438 : Fall 2025 : M/W 3:30pm : Room 1320 DCL
First day information
Information about midterm
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💡
Logistics:
- The main exam will take place in-person on Oct. 27 3:30PM - 4:40PM
- Conflict exam on Oct. 31 7-8:10PM (Request approval from instructors)
- The exam will be in our regular classroom in DCL.
- It will be a closed-book hand-written exam for a duration of 60-80 minutes.
- Cheat sheet is allowed → maximum of one side of an A4 page.
- Exam will cover all material from Lectures 1-to-15, till router scheduling
- No calculators are allowed.
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📅 Course Calendar (subject to change)
Date |
Module |
Instructor |
Topics |
Notes |
Video |
HW |
MP |
Additional readings |
Aug 25 |
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Mon |
Overview |
S+Y |
Course logistics and overview |
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The whats and whys of computer networking | CS:ECE438-Lec1-Overview.pdf | Lecture Video | | | - Video: How does the Internet work |
| Aug 27
Wed | | S | Internet end-to-end overview
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Naming & addressing- Routing & forwarding- Reliability | CS:ECE438-Lec2-InternetOverview.pdf | Lecture Video | | 🟢 MP0 released(won’t be graded) | - A brief history of the Internet- Design philosophy of the Internet protocols
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Tussle in the Internet |
| Sep 1
Mon | | | LABOR DAY | | | | | |
| Sep 3
Wed | | S | Internet architectural principles
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Layering
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End-to-end principle
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Fate-sharing | CS:ECE438-Lec3-InternetArchitecturalPrinciples.pdf | Lecture Video | | 🟢 MP1 released(Socket Prog.) | - End-to-end argument in systems design |
| Sep 8
Mon
| | Y | Foundations
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Signals, time+frequency representations, bandwidth, spectrum
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Modulation
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Carrier / center frequency, baseband, filters, demodulation- Decoding, bit error, SNR, SINR, rate, Shannon capacity | | | 🟢 HW1 released | | |
| Sep 10
Wed
| | Y | More Foundations
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Throughput, goodput, headers, payload, inter-packet time
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Latency (processing + queueing + prop. delay + transmit time)
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FDM vs. TDM, tradeoffs
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Statistical multiplexing | | | | | |
| Sep 15
Mon | Applications | Y | Application layer: Introduction and basics
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Client server and P2P- P2P architecture
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IPC and Sockets … Protocols and requirements
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Web / HTTP, cookies | | | | | |
| Sep 17
Wed | | Y | Web Protocols
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Web caching, Email (POP/IMAP)
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P2P (CHORD protocol)
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DNS
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CDN | | | | 🔴 MP1 due(Socket Prog.) | |
| Sep 22
Mon | Transport | S | Transport Layer: Introduction
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Reliable Transport Goals (correctness and performance) | | | 🔴 HW 1 due | 🟢 MP2 release(TCP) | - CHORD paper |
| Sep 24
Wed | | S | Principles of reliable protocol design
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More Reliable Transport | | | 🟢 HW2 release | | |
| Sep 29
Mon | | S | Introduction to TCP | | | | | |
| Oct 1
Wed | | S | More TCP
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Flow control, Congestion Control
| | | | | |
| Oct 6
Mon
| | Y | TCP: Continued
- More TCP Congestion Control | | | 🔴 HW2 due
| | |
| Oct 8
Wed | | Y | Network layer: Introduction and basics
- Routing and forwarding, connection set up,
- Network service models
- Virtual circuit and datagram networks, forwarding table | | | 🟢 HW3 release | | |
| Oct 13
Mon | Routing | Y | Routers and IP
- Router hardware design
- IP protocol, datagram, IPv4, address, subnets | | | | | |
| Oct 15
Wed | | Y | Network layer continued
- Subnet and Classless addressing - Network Address Translation (NAT)- ICMP, IPv6 | | | | | |
| Oct 20
Mon | | Y | Routing algorithms
- Centralized and distributed routing algorithms
- Link State: Djikstra’s algorithm
Midterm review | | | | | |
| Oct 22
Wed | | Y | Routing algorithms (cont.)
- Distance vector: Bellman Ford algorithmInternet routing protocols
- Hierarchical routing- Autonomous systems, intra-AS routing, inter-AS routing- RIP, OSPF
Internet routing protocols
- eBGP and iBGP
- Routing based on policies, advertising based on incentives
| | | 🔴 HW3 due | 🔴 MP2 due(TCP) | |
| Oct 27
Mon | | | MIDTERM | | | | | |
| Oct 29
Wed | Link | S | Link layer: Introduction and basics
- Link layer reliability vs. e2e reliability
- MAC layer addresses- Tasks of the link layer | | | | | |
| Nov 3
Mon | | S | Medium access control (MAC) #1
- Error checking
- MAC protocols: partition, random, taking turns | | | 🟢 HW4 release | 🟢 MP3 release (Routing) | |
| Nov 5
Wed | | S | Medium access control (MAC) #2
- CSMA / CD
- Ethernet protocol and flowchart
- Addressing and Address resolution protocol (ARP)
- Hubs and Switches | | | | | |
| Nov 10
Mon | | S | Beyond the Internet #1
- Host Network Stack
| | | | | Autonomous systems |
| Nov 12
Wed | | S | Beyond the Internet #2
- Datacenter Networks
- Software Defined Networks (SDNs)
| | | | Mini Project Release | |
| Nov 17
Mon
| | Y | Security layer: Foundations
- Confidentiality, authentication, integrity, availability
- Ciphers, cryptography (symmetric and public-key), RSA algorithm, properties of public and private keys
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| Nov 19
Wed
| Security | Y | Security techniques
- Authentication, nonce, replay attack,
- Man in the middle attack, spoofing
- Message integrity, digital signature, hashing, SHA-1 and MD5 | | | | 🔴 MP3 due
🟢 MP4 release (Link) | |
| Nov 24
Mon
| | | THANKSGIVING | | | | | |
| Nov 26
Wed
| | | THANKSGIVING | | | | | |
| Dec 1
Mon | | Y | Security techniques
- Key distribution center (KDC), Certification authority (CA)
- Secure email as an application offers confidentiality,
- Integrity, authentication, efficiency
- Course wrap up: final exam logistics,
- Quick Internet bird's eye view, follow-up courses, feedback.
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| Dec 3
Wed | | Y | Wireless introduction
- Dispersive medium, CSMA/CA
- Hidden and exposed terminals
- WiFi protocol | | | 🔴 HW4 due | | |
| Dec 8
Mon | | S | Beyond the Internet #3
- Programmable networks
- Intra-host networks | | | | 🔴 MP4 due | |
| Dec 10
Wed | | S+Y | Recap & QnA | | | | | |
| Dec 15
Mon | | | FINAL | | | | | |
CS:ECE438-Lec1-Overview.pdf
CS:ECE438-Lec2-InternetOverview.pdf
CS:ECE438-Lec3-InternetArchitecturalPrinciples.pdf
— Past year materials—
CS/ECE438-Lec1-Overview.pdf
CS/ECE438-Lec2-InternetGoals.pdf
MP-socket_programming_fa24.pdf