Computer Networks
Course Plan
10 lectures, 2 hours each (schedule below is for 2026).
| # | Date | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aug 26 | Introduction |
| 2 | Aug 28 | Foundational Concepts — information systems, layered architecture (physical, data link, network, transport, application), components, interfaces, protocols/envelopes, and services |
| 3 | Sep 8 | Physical Layer — electrical (coax, vampire tap, twisted pair, hub, backplanes, on-chip), optical (fibers, amplifiers, photonics, free-space optics, PICs), wireless (microwave, radio transmission, repeaters), multiplexing (TDM, FDM/WDM, crosstalk) |
| 4 | Sep 10 | Data Link Layer — medium access control, MAC addressing, MTU, switch, bridge, STP, overprovisioning; contention-based and collision-free protocols (ALOHA, CSMA, CDMA); deployments (Carrier Ethernet, MPLS); standards (packet radio, Ethernet, MACA/MACAW, Wi-Fi, GSM/UMTS/GPRS/LTE/5G, CDMA2000, WiMax) |
| 5 | Sep 15 | Network Layer — circuit/message/packet switching, IP addressing, ICMP; packet forwarding (ARP, NAT, OSPF); coordination (Autonomous Systems, BGP, Internet); organization (IANA, ICANN, RIRs) |
| 6 | Sep 17 | Transport Layer — TCP, UDP, SCTP, sockets, congestion control; quality of service (ordering, throughput, latency, jitter) |
| 7 | Sep 23 | Application Layer — DHCP, DNS, r-commands, NTP/PTP, WHOIS, email/HTTP/FTP |
| 8 | Sep 28 | Security Across Layers — Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability (CIA) at the various layers (PKI/ACME, SSL/TLS, DNSsec, IPsec, MACsec, fixed/leased lines, ad-hoc mesh networks, cellular networks, the Internet); countermeasures (frame sniffing, packet capture, DPI, firewalls, VPNs, network diodes, software-defined networking, isolation domains) |
| 9 | Sep 30 | Cyber Operations — function and local/global properties of the five layers of the TCP/IP model in offensive and defensive cyber operations |
| 10 | Oct 1 | Wrap-up and exam preparation |
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(TODO: Describe contents.)
| Module | Definitions | Abbreviations | Lemmas | Theorems | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation | 82 | 35 | 80 | 73 | — |
| PhysicalLayer | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | — |
| DataLinkLayer | 6 | 1 | 2 | 5 | — |
| NetworkLayer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| TransportLayer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| ApplicationLayer | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| Security | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| CyberOps | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |