The official course outline now lives in ECOS . ECOS is UNSW's new Enterprise Course Outline Solution
Below is some relevant information.
Contents
- Course Details
- Course Summary
- Course Timetable
- Course Aims
- Student Learning Outcomes
- Assumed Knowledge
- Teaching Rationale
- Teaching Strategies
- Assessment
- Student Conduct
- Course Schedule
- Resources for Students
- Course Evaluation and Development
- Special Consideration
Course Details
| Course Code | COMP3331/9331 |
| Course Title | Computer Networks and Applications |
| Units of Credit | 6 |
| Lecture | Mahbub Hassan |
| Admin | Isura Nirmal |
| Classes |
Lectures: Mon 14:00-16:00 Hrs (
Ainsworth G03
) and Thu 14:00 -16:00 Hrs (
Ainsworth G03
).
Timetable for all lectures. |
| Consultations |
Thursdays 09:00 - 10:00
In-person: Room 607, K17 (CSE Building) Or Zoom Meeting ID: 821 2180 3792, Password: 989676. You will be in a waiting room. Wait there, and I will attend to you once I am done helping the previous student. |
| Course Website |
www.cse.unsw.edu.au/~cs3331
|
| Course Contact Email | cs3331@cse.unsw.edu.au |
| Course Forum |
You must join the forum first via the following link:
https://edstem.org/au/join/PjBmH4
|
| Handbook Entry | Handbook Entry (may be slightly dated) |
Course Summary
This course is an introductory course on computer networks aimed at students with a computer science / electrical engineering background. We will focus on common paradigms and protocols used in present data communication. Through lectures, in-class activities, labs and assignments, you will learn the theory and application of:
(1) Medium access control, congestion control, flow control, and reliable transmission,
(2) Addressing and naming,
(3) Routing and switching,
(4) Widely used protocols such as Ethernet, IP, TCP, UDP, HTTP, etc.
(5) Special-purpose networks, including content delivery, peer-to-peer, and wireless networks, and
(6) Security threats and standard defensive techniques (if time permits)
This is a combined undergraduate and postgraduate course.
Course Timetable
There will be 4 hours of lectures every week:
(i) 2-hour lecture on Monday from 14:00 - 16:00 and
(ii) 2-hour lecture on Thursday from 14:00 - 16:00
Lectures will be delivered in person in Ainsworth G03 . Lecturers will be recorded, and the video recordings will be available for viewing.
There will be 2-hour labs during 8 weeks (starting in Week 2). Most lab classes will be in-person, but a few online labs are also available. The detailed lab schedule will be posted on the Labs page.
Course Aims
The course aims to give students an overview of the core topics in computer networks and the Internet's architecture and protocols. Students will be introduced to network programming and learn to design and implement network protocols and applications and evaluate network performance. As an introductory course, one of the aims is to prepare students for more advanced study in follow-on courses.
Student Learning Outcomes
CLO1 : Describe the current architecture of the Internet and the entities involved in its operations
CLO2 : Identify soundness and/or potential flaws in proposed protocols
CLO3 : Design networked applications and protocols and implement them in C, Java or Python
CLO4 : Analyse and evaluate the performance of computer networks
CLO5 : Capture and analyse network traffic
CLO6 : Explain security and ethical issues in computer networking
Before commencing this course, students should:
- Have a good understanding of data structures and algorithms and basic probability theory.
- Write working programs in C, Java, or Python. The course will include a programming assignment and lab exercises.
Teaching Rationale
This course takes a top-down approach to teaching computer networks. The rationale is that most students have first-hand experience using applications over the Internet. This allows them to relate to each protocol stack layer as we travel down the layers. Once committed, they participate in appropriate cognitive aspects, such as learning the details with a focus on understanding them. Students get mentally prepared to answer questions. Very often, there is no single answer, or the answers can be unexpected. This results in deep learning and gives students a sense of accomplishment and confidence.
Learning will be primarily facilitated through the delivery of lectures. The hands-on laboratories will provide an opportunity to understand better the concepts discussed in the lectures. The sample problems, homework problem set, and tutorials will help develop problem-solving skills and prepare for the exams. The programming assignments mainly aim to familiarise students with basic network programming and network protocol design.
Teaching Strategies
- Lectures: introduce the theory and demonstrate how they apply in practice
- Lab Work: reinforce concepts taught in lectures by conducting hands-on experiments and network performance
- Assignment: allow students to design and implement network protocols and evaluate network performance
- Homework Problems (Not assessed/marked): allow students to solve problems based on content from lectures, develop problem-solving skills, assist with exam preparation
- Consultations, Tutorials and Course Forum: allow students to ask questions and seek help from the teaching team.
Assessment
There will be four assessment components as listed below:
| Component | Weight |
|---|---|
| Lab Exercises | 20% |
| Programming Assignment | 20% |
| Mid-term Exam | 20% |
| Final Exam | 40% |
To pass the course, a student MUST receive at least 40% marks in the final exam. The following formula outlines precisely how the final mark will be computed:
lab = marks for lab exercises (scaled to 20)
assign = marks for the programming assignment (out of 20 marks)
midTerm = mark for the mid-term exam (out of 20 marks)
finalExamScaled = scaled mark for the final exam (out of 40 marks)
mark = lab + assign + midTerm + finalExamScaled
grade = HD|DN|CR|PS if mark >= 50 && finalExamScaled >= 16
= FL if mark < 50
= UF finalExamScaled < 16
In this course, the final and mid-term exams will use the Inspera platform. The exams are open book and open notes. More information for students about Inspera can be found here:
https://www.student.unsw.edu.au/exams/inspera
.
Student Conduct
The Student Code of Conduct ( Information , Policy ) sets out what the University expects from students as members of the UNSW community. As well as the learning, teaching and research environment, the University aims to provide an environment that enables students to achieve their full potential and to provide an experience consistent with the University's values and guiding principles. A condition of enrolment is that students inform themselves of the University's rules and policies affecting them and conduct themselves accordingly.
In particular, students are responsible for observing standards of equity and respect in dealing with every University community member. This applies to all activities on UNSW premises and all external activities related to study and research. This includes behaviour in person and on social media; for example, Facebook groups are set up to discuss UNSW courses or coursework. Behaviour that is considered in breach of the Student Code Policy as discriminatory, sexually inappropriate, bullying, harassing, invading another's privacy or causing any person to fear for their safety is serious misconduct. It can lead to severe penalties, including suspension or exclusion from UNSW.
If you have any concerns, you may raise them with your lecturer or approach the School Ethics Officer , Grievance Officer , or one of the student representatives.
Plagiarism
is
defined as
using the words or ideas of others and presenting them as your own.
UNSW and CSE treat plagiarism as academic misconduct, which means it carries penalties as severe as being excluded from further study at UNSW. There are several sources to help you understand what plagiarism is and how it is dealt with at UNSW:
- Plagiarism and Academic Integrity
- Student Code Policy
- Student Misconduct Procedure
- Plagiarism Policy
- UNSW Plagiarism Procedure
- Essential Advice for CSE students
- Academic integrity reminder | ChatGPT
Make sure that you read and understand the above. Ignorance is not accepted as an excuse for plagiarism. In particular, you are responsible for securely storing your assignment files such that they are not accessible by anyone but you by setting proper permissions on your CSE home directory and/or online code repositories. Note also that plagiarism includes paying or asking another person to do a piece of work for you and then submitting it as your work. Plagiarism also covers collusion: working on an individual assessment with other students. If the assignment is individual, do it yourself or ask your tutor or the forum for help.
UNSW is committed to fostering a learning culture informed by academic integrity. All UNSW staff and students are responsible for adhering to this principle of academic integrity. Plagiarism undermines academic integrity and is not tolerated at UNSW. Plagiarism at UNSW is defined as using the words or ideas of others and passing them off as your own. This encompasses copying works from your fellow students (plagiarism) or asking/paying someone to do the work for you (contract cheating).
Course Schedule
The following table lists the tentative weekly schedule. Students will be informed of any changes during the lecture and by announcements on the notices page.
| Week | Lecture Dates | Lecture Topics | Labs | Assessment Tasks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 & 31 May |
Course Logistics
Introduction:
|
Self-Study of Lab
resources and tools (no submission and no marks) |
|
| 2 | 3 & 7 June |
Application Layer:
|
Lab 1 |
Lab 1 submission deadline: 10:00 Tue 11th June
|
| 3 |
10 & 14 June
|
Application Layer:
Transport Layer:
|
Lab 2 |
Lab 2 submission deadline: 10:00 Tue 18th June
|
| 4 |
17 & 21 June
|
Transport Layer:
|
Lab 3
|
Lab 3 submission deadline: 10:00 Tue 25th June
|
| 5 | 24 & 28 June |
Transport Layer:
|
Tutorial 1
|
|
| 6 | No lecture |
No lecture
|
No Lab |
|
| 7 |
8 & 12 July
Note: Mid-term exam will take place on the 8th. Hence, there is no in-person lecture on that day. |
Network Layer, Data Plane:
|
Programming Tutorial |
Mid-term Test on 8th July during lecture hours
|
|
8
|
15 & 19 July
|
Network Layer, Data Plane:
|
Lab 4
|
Lab 4 submission deadline: 10:00 Tue 23rd July
|
| 9 |
22 & 26 July
|
Network Layer, Control Plane:
|
Lab 5
|
Lab 5 submission deadline: 10:00 Tue 30th July
Assignment Due: 26 July |
| 10 |
29 July & 2 Aug
|
Link Layer:
Network Security
|
Tutorial 2
|
|
| Exam Period | 9 - 22 August | T2 Exams |
|
Final Exam |
Resources for Students
Course Textbook:
- Computer Networking - A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet, J. Kurose and K. Ross, Pearson, 8th Edition, 2020 (Seventh edition will suffice for most parts). UNSW Bookshop Link - Print Version , Pearson Link - E-book Version
Reference Texts:
- Unix Network 1 - Networking APIs: Sockets and XTI, W. Richard Stevens, Prentice-Hall, Second Edition, 1998.
- Java Network Programming, E. R. Harold, O'Reilly, Third Edition, 2004.
- Learning Python, Mark Lutz, O'Reilly, Fifth Edition, 2013.
- Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie, Morgan Kaufmann, Fifth Edition, 2011.
- Introduction to Computer Networks and Cybersecurity, John Wu and J. David Irwin, CRC Press, 2013.
- Computer Networks, Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall, Fifth Edition, Pearson, 2010.
- Wireless and Mobile Networking, Mahbub Hassan, CRC Press, 2022
Links to additional reading material will be available on the lecture notes page.
Software:
For the labs, we will be using several Unix-based network utility programs. The purpose of these programs and information on how to use them will be provided in the lab handouts. We will also use a packet sniffing tool called Wireshark, which is widely deployed on CSE machines. In addition, we will also use Ns-2, a widely used network simulator for a few labs. Ns-2 is installed on the CSE lab machines. The simulator is written in C++. However, it uses OTcl as its command and configuration interface. In the lab exercises, we will use scripts written in OTcl. We will provide the necessary scripts for the lab exercises. You will be expected to run the scripts, make some changes in the scripts, and specific performance metrics. You will not be required to write C++ code. Detailed resources for all tools will be available on the lab exercises page.
The programming assignment is expected to be developed in
C, Java or Python
. Students are assumed to have sufficient expertise in one of these programming languages. Links to C, Java and Python network programming resources will be available on the assignment page. Students will work on some simple client-server applications in two lab exercises, which should be a helpful starting point for the assignment.
Course Evaluation and Development
Student feedback on this course is obtained through the myExperience survey at the end of each term. We value student feedback and take it seriously, using it as a basis for continuous improvements to the course. We strongly encourage students to promptly inform the course lecturer of any issues that may arise. We are open to suggestions and criticisms and committed to taking appropriate actions to rectify any problems and enhance the student's learning experience.
Based on the feedback received for previous terms, we note that it was generally positive. Consequently, we do not anticipate making any significant changes to the course. However, it was brought to our attention that some students found the programming assignment quite challenging and would perhaps benefit from additional help with coding. In response to this concern, we will be offering additional help sessions and tutorials on network programming. We hope that this extra support will assist students in completing the assignment on time ensuring a better learning experience for everyone.
Special Consideration
You can view the Special Consideration policy at the link here .
UNSW centrally handles special considerations (in the Student Lifecycle division), so all special consideration requests must be submitted via the UNSW Special Consideration website. If you believe your work for any assessment component in this course was affected by unforeseen adverse circumstances, you could apply for Special Consideration. Special consideration requests must be accompanied by documentation on how you have been impacted, which Student Lifecycle will verify. Do not email the LiC directly about special consideration. If your request is reasonable and your work has been impacted, then:
- Lab submission: You may be granted an extension of a few days.
- Assignment: You may be granted an extension of a few days.
- Mid-Term Exam: Your final exam marks maybe scaled up to cover the mid-term component.
- Final Exam: You may be offered a Supplementary Exam
Note the use of the word "may". None of the above is guaranteed. It depends on you making a convincing case that the circumstances have impacted your ability to work. UNSW expects you to be available to sit for the supplementary exams if required. If you are awarded a supplementary exam and do not attend, your exam mark will be zero.
If you are registered with Equitable Learning Services (ELS), please forward your documentation to your Course Admin within the first two weeks of the term.
Contacting LiC and Course Admin: No personal emails, please. Please use cs3331@cse.unsw.edu.au
Resource created Monday 06 May 2024, 09:25:50 PM, last modified Thursday 06 June 2024, 04:10:41 PM.