Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science
ENGR 4890U: Advanced Computer Networks
Winter Term 2010
COURSE OUTLINE
Instructor:
Anand Dersingh
Office hours: Monday 4PM – 5PM at U5-69 cubicle ‘a’
TA: Dixit Sharma
Course Objectives
Advanced topics in computer networks with a particular emphasis on protocols used throughout
the Internet. The course strengthens the student’s understanding of fundamental concepts,
requirements, and design tradeoffs, particularly as related to scheduling, congestion control,
advanced routing protocols, traffic management, wireless access and mobility, and applications.
More importantly, the course discusses how networking may evolve in the future to provide
ubiquitous support for quality-of-service (QoS) in heterogeneous environments.
Course Outcomes
Students mastering this course should have knowledge and understanding of the following areas:
o Computer network design
o Analyzing network protocols
o Computer network applications
o Fundamentals of interior and exterior routing protocols
o Traffic management
o Quality of service (QoS) and supporting protocols
o Wide area and local area networks
o Wireless LANs
Prerequisites
ENGR4650U.
Lectures
Monday 11:10am – 12:30pm at UL1
Thursday 12:40pm – 2:00pm at UL1
Course Organization
The course includes three lecture hours, two tutorial hours per week, and three hours of biweekly laboratories, for one semester.
Required Course Text and Other Materials
Computer Networking with Internet Protocols and Technology, William Stallings, Prentice Hall
2004
Reference Books
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Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, Addison
Wesley, 2008, 4th edition.
Computer Networks, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Pearson Prentice Hall, 4th edition.
Computer Networks and Internets, Douglas Comer, 2009, Prentice Hall, 5th edition.
Data and Computer Communications, William Stallings, Prentice Hall, 2007, 8th edition.
Detailed Course Content
Week of
Jan. 11
Jan. 18
Jan. 25
Feb. 1
Feb. 8
Feb. 15
Feb. 22
Mar. 1
Mid-term
Mar. 8
Mar. 15
Mar. 22
Mar. 29
Apr. 5
Apr. 12
Subject
Introduction + Internetworking
Applications
Congestion and Performance Issues
TCP and TCP traffic control
IP + Integrated and Differentiated Services
Reading week
Protocols for QoS Support
Labs
Lab 1
Lab 2
Lab 3
Interior routing protocols
Exterior routing protocols
WAN and Data Link Control
LAN and VLAN
Wireless networking
Wireless LANs
Review
Lab 4
Lab 5
Lab 6
Note that this detailed course content is tentative and subject to change or modify at the
Instructor’s discretion.
Software Tools
Wireshark – Network Protocol Analyzer
OPNET IT Guru Academic Edition
Course Evaluation
Assignments (four assignments)
20%
Labs (six labs)
30%
Midterm Exam
20%
Final Exam
30%
Total
100%
Note that there will be one midterm exam which will be held in class tentatively on Mar. 4th
Laboratories
During laboratories the TA will guide the students through the given problems (or project) and
will review and mark the labs following its final submission date.
Tutorials
During tutorials the TA will answer limited questions pertaining to the assignments and labs
prior to their due dates, and will review the assignments and labs following their final submission
dates. The tutorials might also cover some topics from prior week’s lectures.
Course Content Breakdown
(following categories defined by the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board’s Accreditation
Criteria and Procedures report, available at http://ccpe.ca/e/files/report_ceab.pdf)
Mathematics:
Basic Science:
Engineering Science:
Engineering Design:
Complementary Studies:
Total:
00%
10%
50%
40%
00%
100%
General Policies
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Course content will be delivered through a combination of lectures, in-class activities and
problems. Assigned activities will include Web-Centric e-Learning components. Some of
these will be performed in class, whereas others are to be performed outside of class.
Some in- and outside activities might be graded, others serve to self assess your acquired
knowledge. It is expected that to be successful, students will attend and participate in class,
and perform all required online and homework assignments.
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There is a WebCT-based web page for the course, which include a constantly updating
calendar of course milestones, assignment, test dates and further information. Students are
expected to inform themselves regularly about course requirements.
Communication with the professor through electronic means will be through WebCT only.
E-Mail to other accounts to the professor might not be answered in a timely fashion.
The professor will attempt to answer to E-Mails/Discussion Postings through WebCT in a
timely fashion (<= 2 week days).
Provocative or demeaning contributions to electronic media might be removed or ignored.
Contributions to discussion forums/chat rooms and e-mails that indicate academic
misconduct might be used to prove such cases.
Data communication on the UOIT computer network during exam/quiz/assignment times
might be monitored to detect and prevent inappropriate communication.
Suitable computerized means might be used to restrict the functionality of the student laptop
in in-class situations to the required software tools of the course.
Labs (group of three), Assignments, Mid-term, Final exam
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As a group you are responsible for all group labs and assignments. If a group assignment is
handed in late, all members of the group will be penalized. If one student is found to be
guilty of plagiarism or cheating, the entire group will receive the same penalty as determined
by the instructor. The only difference in group members’ marks on group assignments will be
based on a peer evaluation done at the end of the term.
No late assignments will be accepted without prior approval from the instructor.
If you cannot write an exam, or need an extension for an assignment due to medical reasons
you MUST notify the instructor as soon as possible before submitting any work.
Medical certificates MUST be sent DIRECTLY from the Doctor’s Office or Hospital within
5 days by mail or preferably by fax to the Academic Advisor of FEAS (fax number 905-7213370 attn: Academic Advisor).
A fee for the deferral must be paid by the student if the Medical certificate is valid and
arrives on time.
Failure to comply with the above will result in an F for the mid-term and/or the final exam.
The deferred exam will be either written or oral at the discretion of the instructor.
Special Consideration
Consideration will be given to students who make significant improvements throughout the term.
Student Identification
You must bring your UOIT student ID card to the mid-term and final exam. Failure to do so will
result in an F for the mid-term and/or the final exam.
Communication Devices
Usage of cell phones or other similar devices of disruptive nature are not allowed in course
related events such as lectures, labs, tutorials, mid-term, and exam.
Academic Integrity and Conduct
UOIT is committed to the fundamental values of preserving academic integrity as defined in
UOIT policies and contained in the UOIT Calendar. Students should familiarize themselves with
UOIT’s policies and statements in this area. Acts of academic dishonesty, including plagiarism,
cheating, aiding others in cheating, and examination impersonation, will be dealt with severely as
they threaten the integrity of the academic system and are not acceptable.
UOIT and faculty members reserve the right to use electronic means to detect and help prevent
plagiarism. Students agree that by taking this course all assignments are subject to submission
for textual similarity review to Turnitin.com. Assignments submitted to Turnitin.com will be
included as source documents in Turnitin.com's restricted access database solely for the purpose
of detecting plagiarism in such documents for five academic years. The faculty member may
require students to submit their assignments electronically to Turnitin.com or the faculty member
may submit questionable text on behalf of a student. The terms that apply to UOIT's use of the
Turnitin.com service are described on the Turnitin.com website. (To read the entire policy,
please go to: http://www.uoit.ca/EN/academicintegrityfaculty/main/219589/turnitin.html.)
Accessibility
To insure that disability-related concerns are properly addressed during this course, students with
documented disabilities and who may require assistance to participate in this class are
encouraged to speak with their instructor as soon as possible. Students who suspect they may
have a disability that may affect their participation in this course are advised to go to the Centre
for Students with Disabilities (room B297) as soon as possible.
Approved by (indicating approval of Faculty’s Curriculum Committee): Mikael Eklund