Carnegie Mellon University
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
18-756 Packet Switching and Computer Networks
Fall 2008
COURSE SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Professor Hyong S. Kim
Office: CIC 2309
e-mail: kim@ece.cmu.edu
Secretary:
Carolyn Patterson
Office: Porter Hall B15
Tel: 268-7286
e-mail: carol@ece.cmu.edu
Class Schedule:
TBA
References:
1. Computer Networks, L. Peterson and B. Davie, Morgan Kaufmann, ISBN 155860-514-2
2. Communication Networks, by A. Leon-Garcia and I. Widjaja, McGraw-Hill,
ISBN 0-07-242349-8.
3. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications
4. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking
5. IEEE Transactions on Communications
6. IEEE Communications Magazine
7. IEEE Network Magazine
8. Proceedings of IEEE INFOCOM
9. Proceedings of ACM SIGCOM
Course Objectives
This first level graduate course in networking provides an understanding of the key
concepts in networks through lectures, seminars, and projects. The topics include
SONET, MPLS, GMPLS, Optical networks, packet switch architectures, QoS, Routing,
and other advanced topics in networks.
Background and Prerequisites:
18-345 or equivalent undergraduate level networking course
Administration and announcement:
Blackboard software will be used for administration and communication purposes.
(http://www.cmu.edu/blackboard)
All assignments are due 11:55PM (EST) on due dates.
Lecture Notes:
The lecture notes will be posted in the Blackboard.
Paper Reviews:
You are expected to read papers and submit review reports throughout the course. The
paper review reports are worth 10 % of the final grade.
Course Problem Sets and Projects:
The problem sets will be assigned throughout the course. The problem sets will be based
on course materials including papers. The problem sets are due in the class one week
after they are assigned (unless you are told otherwise). There are also network software
projects. The objective of the project is to explore concepts covered during the lectures
through experiments. The problem sets and the projects are worth 30% of the final grade.
Details on the projects will be handed out later.
All work submitted late will be counted as zero.
Exams and Tests:
There will be 2 exams and 2 tests in the course.
Test 1 and 2 are 60 minutes long (latter part of the lecture) and worth 5% each.
Exam 1 and 2 are 110 minutes long and worth 25% each.
Test 1: September 26, 10:20-11:20 (5%)
Test 2: November 14, 10:20-11:20 (5%)
Exam 1: October 17, 9:30-11:20 (25%)
Exam 2: December 5, 9:30-11:20 (25%)
Policy on Collaboration and Cheating
We would like to promote a collaborative environment where people feel free to openly
discuss and ask questions. However, when assignments and projects are submitted, the
work must be the author's own. Simply put, cheating is submitting work that is not your
own; material handed in for grading must be the product of individual effort; anything
else constitutes cheating. Cheating in any form or shape will result in a failing grade for
the course. NO EXCEPTIONS WILL BE MADE.
Students are referred to the University Policy about Cheating and Plagiarism.
(http://www.cmu.edu/policies/documents/Cheating.html)