Course Syllabus

Course Logistics

Course Numbers EECS148/CS132
Instructor Athina Markopoulou
Lectures Tue, Thu 2:00-3:20pm, BS3 1200
Discussions

TAs: Anastasia (Nastia) Shuba, Janus Varmarken, Milad Asgari.

Emaileecs148@eecs.uci.edu. But please check the steps for communication with the teaching staff  in the FAQ page, before contacting us.

All Discussions are on Mondays at the following times:
10:00 - 10:50AM in PCB 1200 - Anastasia
11:00 - 11:50AM in ALP 1700 - Janus/Milad
12:00 - 12:50PM in PCB 1200 - Janus/Milad
1:00 - 1:50PM in PCB 1200 - Janus/Milad
2:00 - 2:50PM in PSCB 140 - Anastasia
5:00 - 5:50PM in ALP 1700 - Janus/Milad
Office Hours

Athina:  Tue 12:15-1:45pm in EH 4207 
Anastasia: Wed 12:00pm-2:00pm in EH 4106 (starting week 2)
Janus: Thur 3:45pm-5:45pm in EH 4106 (starting week 2)
Milad: Fri 3:30pm-5:30pm in EH 4106 (starting week 2)

How to find EH 4106: take the passenger elevator in EH to the 4th floor and make a left towards the labs (we will leave the door propped open).

Textbook Kurose and Ross “Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach” v7 (preferred) or v6 (ok). You can get the hardcopy or buy/rent the E-TEXT here. (I also put some copies available for 2h loan in the Science Library: TK5105.875.I57 K88 2017). Book companion website.
Optional/Supplement Networked Life and Networks Illustrated by M. Chiang.

Course Description

In this course, we will learn about computer networks, in general, and the Internet in particular. We will present the architecture and design principles. Today's computer networks are organized in “layers,” each with well-defined functionality and interface with other layers. We will discuss protocols used at the application (Ch.2), transport (Ch.3), network (data plane in Ch.4 and control plane in Ch.5), link and MAC (Ch.6) layers; wireless and mobile networks (Ch.7). Time permitting, we may also cover selected topics on network security (Ch. 8).

 

Deliverables and Grading

What Grade % When
Homework Assignments 20% every ~2-3 weeks
Midterm Exam 30% TBA
Final Exam 50% Thu 6/13 1:30-3:30pm
Extra points +5% In class participation (I-clicker, Quizzes, Q&A)
+1% completing teaching evaluation

The focus of the class is on understanding of the protocols. In addition to protocol description, we will sometimes describe simple models for performance analysis, and we will practice the concepts through Wireshark and programming assignments. Homeworks and exams will involve primarily questions about the protocols, some calculations and some programming (wireshark labs, socket programming, mininet). We assume that you are comfortable with basic probability and python.

 

Policies

  • Homework Submission: Please submit your homeworks online (to canvas and/or server submission for programming). You are encouraged to do your homeworks in groups of two. If you cannot find a partner, you can also submit your homework by yourself. 
  • Late policy: no late homeworks will be accepted. Solutions will be posted online shortly after the deadline. Homeworks not submitted by the deadline will get zero points. However, to accommodate for unforeseen circumstances, your homework with the lowest grade (including 0 for a missing one) will be dropped. This means that you can skip one homework without asking permission.
  • Collaboration: You are allowed to discuss with other classmates or groups but you should eventually complete your homework on your own (one submission per group). However, if you work too closely with classmates from other groups, please indicate their name on your homework. If we notice that two homeworks are essentially the same, all involved students will get 0 grade; they will also be subject to the rules of UCI Academic Honesty Policy.
  • Attendance is not mandatory - it is up to you to keep up with the materials. All materials will be posted online and recordings of the lectures will be available online at the Yuba Media Library. You do NOT need to notify us about your attendance, you DO need to notify us if you have to miss an exam (for a very good reason).
  • I-clicker is encouraged but not mandatory. There will be bonus points for I-clicker participation. The first two weeks, we will practice using I-clicker, but we will not record grades. We will start giving points for I-clicker participation in the 3rd week. You can use an I-clicker device (instructions for registering here) or a mobile app (i-clicker Reef). 
  • In-class participation:  we would like you to participate, although we acknowledge it is challenging in such a large class. In the lectures, the instructor will use a combination of I-clicker, online short (e.g. 5min) quizzes, and traditional Q&A. In discussion sessions, the TAs will use other tools (kahut, etc). We will award +5% extra points for in-class participation, through all the aforementioned means.
  • Communication with Teaching Team:  With such a large class, it is important to streamline the communication between students and the teaching team, both to minimize load for the teaching team and to reduce the response time for the students. What to do if you have a question? Basically, post it on the Discussions Board (this is the fastest way to get a reply), or come to office hours. AVOID EMAILING THE INSTRUCTOR. For details on communication please see the FAQ page

 

More Questions? Check the FAQ page

Course Summary:

Date Details Due