We will examine several key challenges of networking, such as application-level interoperability, transport-level congestion control, and network-level routing. For each of these challenges, we will examine the specific response embodied in the current Internet protocol suite and the systems implementing it. However, we will also keep an eye out for the broader possibilities for potential future protocols and systems.
Class room instructor instructor: professor Louis Yu
Office: Olin 303
Phone: x7473
Homepage: http://homepages.gustavus.edu/~lyu/
Office Hours: Monday, Wednesday 4:00pm - 5:00pm; Saturday 6:00pm - 7:00pm Visitors are welcome whenever my office door is opened, even outside scheduled office hours. If you would like to meet with me, please email me to schedule an appointment.
Weekly Schedule:
All course materials will be available through my World Wide Web page. The URL for this course is http://homepages.gac.edu/~lyu/teaching/mcs377-f16/index.html. After this syllabus I will give hardcopy handouts only to those students who want them.
The primary text for the course will be Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet, 6th ed., by James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross, Addison-Wesley, 2012. You will also need to read some professional literatures, particularly in context of student presentations. For details, please read on.
Attendance, both physical and mental, is required. In fact, this semester I will note your attendance (or whether you arrived late or on time) at the start of each lecture. At the end of the semester your class attendance grade is calculated from the lectures you attended on time (it is worth 5% of your final grade). I reserve the right to lower your grade even further if I feel that you are missing or showing up late to consecutive lectures.
Should you need to miss a class or lab for any reason, you are still responsible for
the material covered in there. This means you will need to make sure
that you understand the reading from that day, you should ask another student
for the notes from that day, and you should make sure that you understand what was covered.
If there is a project or a homework assignment due that day, you should be sure to submit it on time (either email it to me or ask another student to submit a hard copy for you). Thus, do not leave your work to the last minute.
If you have influenza-like symptoms (temperature over 100 with headaches, sore throat,
or cough), please call Health Service. If they say to stay home, you should do so,
and I require that you email me.
You may use your laptop in class. However, the use of the computer is restricted to activities deemed appropriate by the instructor. Playing games, watching YouTube, reading e-mail, checking Facebook, and working on assignments for other courses are a few examples of inappropriate activities that can be distracting to the instructor and other students in the course. Any repeat instances from an individual of such will result in grade deduction.
In the course of the semester, you will complete 3 projects. In each case, I will indicate what I expect of you. A project report that meets those expectations is due by the start of class on the date specified in the course schedule. For each project, there are generally three lectures (shown in the schedule) for us to work together (they generally fall on the Friday of each week). However, you will often need to spend additional time on the project outside of class. All lab reports are due at the beginning of class on the day specified. If you submit a project report late, your grade will drop 10% (of the total project grade) per day late.
If you are too sick to complete a report on time, you will not be penalized. However, you need to talk to me or email me as soon as possible, and provide the necessary doctor's note. Other circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In general, you should talk to me or email me (asap) around the time of the incident.
You are to select your own homework problems. Each of the seven Chapters we will be covering (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8) in the textbook ends with review questions. You may choose to submit any five problems from each Chapter. Your schedule will indicate the due dates for these homework problems. They are due at the beginning of the class on the day specified. For example, according to our schedule, the due date for the homework problems from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 is on September 23rd at the start of class; you are to submit the answers to 10 questions (5 from each Chapter) via hardcopy. You may not choose any question or problem that we have previously worked as a class. Homework problems should always be individual work.
You are highly encouraged to seek help from me on homework problems. In fact, if you finish a problem with my supervision, I can grade that problem right on the spot and you do not need to submit the answer to that particular problem on the corresponding due date. My office hours are listed above; you can also try emailing me to schedule an appointment. Please note that before the corresponding due date I will avoid directly giving you the answer to any of the problems (I will in general comment on the approaches you should take).
I will then grade and return each homework submission to you as quickly as I can but normally with only an indication of whether it is acceptable or needs more work. The reason why I won't write much about the work I turn back to you is because I would like to talk with you face-to-face. If a problem needs more work, you should treat that as an invitation to come talk with me about it. In fact, on the course schedule you can see that for each set of the homework there is a submission date and there is a rebuttal date. For example, for the homework problems from Chapter 1 and Chapter 2, the submission date is on September 23rd (as noted before), and the rebuttal date is on October 13th. During the rebuttal period, for each question I had graded as wrong, you are given a second chance to correct it for full credit. The rule for the rebuttal is as follows:
At the end of the semester I will sit back, relax and let students teach the class instead. Each student will have 25 minutes to present a conference paper. The whole class will be expected to read the paper at least casually, but the student leading the class will be expected to have read it more carefully and have done whatever it takes to really understand it, which may involve additional background reading, talking with me, etc.
First, you are to select a paper to present. I have given you a list of seven papers. I suggest that you read the abstracts of these papers to see if you are interested in presenting a particular one. Clearly there are seven papers listed and nine students in the class. Thus, you are encouraged to select other papers in the general area of networking. The papers you selected should be from top tier networking conferences.
You will need to select a paper to present by Friday, November 11th via a one-on-one meeting with me (you will need to schedule that meeting yourself). The papers listed below are on a first-come-first-served basis so I suggest for you to come see me as early as possible, and that you should select a few potential papers (including some not listed below) in case that some of them are taken.
Exit from Hell? Reducing the Impact of Amplification DDoS Attacks
Effective Attacks and Provable Defenses for Website Fingerprinting
On the Practical Exploitability of Dual EC in TLS Implementations
From the Aether to the Ethernet—Attacking the Internet using Broadcast Digital Television
On the Effective Prevention of TLS Man-in-the-Middle Attacks in Web Applications
I will provide a list of attributes that good presentations have. For each presentation, each student in the audience will be asked to select two of these attributes that were particular strong and two that particularly need work. I will summarize this feedback for the presenters. I will also use the same list of attributes to structure my own evaluation of the presentation, which will take place in a face-to-face “debriefing” with the presenters during lecture on Monday, December 12h, with the grade generated as a summary from that meeting.
If you become sick before your presentation, you need to talk to me or email me as soon as possible, and provide the necessary doctor's note. If you fail to present without first notifying me and receiving the necessary written approval, you will receive a zero on your presentation; there will not be any make-ups. Other circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In general, you should talk to me or email me (asap) around the time of the incident and recieve an email approval before making the decision to skip your presentation.
There will be two intra-term exams as shown on the schedule and a final exam as scheduled by the registrar.
My default assumption is that students will take the final together. Therefore, I would ask you to please be respectful and quiet, even after completing your exam, so that your fellow students have a good test-taking environment. However, if you prefer to take the exam in a separate room, please contact me in advance and I will try to arrange it.
Tests will be closed-book and mostly closed-notes. You may, however, use a single 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper with hand-written notes for reference. (Both sides of the sheet are OK.)
If you become sick around test time, you need to talk to me or email me as soon as possible, and provide the necessary doctor's note. If you fail to take a test without first notifying me and receiving the necessary written approval, you will receive a zero on your test; there will not be any make-ups. Other circumstances will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. In general, you should talk to me or email me (asap) around the time of the incident and recieve an email approval before making the decision to skip a test.
Students are encouraged to discuss the course, including issues raised by the assignments. However, the solutions to assignments should be individual original work. If an assignment makes you realize you don't understand the material, ask a fellow student a question designed to improve your understanding, not one designed to get the assignment done. To do otherwise is to cheat yourself out of understanding, as well as to be intolerably dishonorable.
Any substantive contribution to your solution by another person or taken from a publication or web site should be properly acknowledged in writing. Failure to do so is plagiarism and will necessitate disciplinary action.
The same standards regarding plagiarism apply to team projects as to the work of individuals, except that the author is now the entire team rather than an individual. Anything taken from a source outside the team should be be properly cited.
One additional issue that arises from the team authorship of project reports is that all team members must stand behind all reports bearing their names. All team members have quality assurance responsibility for the entire project. If there is irreconcilable disagreement within the team it is necessary to indicate as much in the report.
You are expected to be familiar with the college academic honesty honor code policy and to comply with that policy. If you have any questions about it, please ask.
I will provide you with a grade on each lab assignment and homework, as well each test and the final exam. As a guideline, the course components will contribute to your final grade in the proportions indicated below:
This semester we are using Moodle to keep track of your scores. The pro of doing so is that you know your score for a component as soon as it is graded. This will give you a pretty good idea of your current standing going into a test or an exam. Thus, please check your scores on Moodle often.
All homework and lab reports should be readily readable, and should not presuppose that I already know what you are trying to say. Use full English sentences where appropriate (namely almost everywhere) and clear diagrams, programs, etc. Remember that your goal is to communicate clearly and that the appearance of these technical items plays a role in this communication process. Be sure your assignments are either submitted online, via email, or stapled together with your name on them.
Gustavus Adolphus College is committed to ensuring the full participation of all students in its programs. If you have a documented disability (or you think you may have a disability of any nature) and, as a result, need reasonable academic accommodation to participate in class, take tests or benefit from the College's services, then you should speak with the Disability Services staff, for a confidential discussion of your needs and appropriate plans. Course requirements cannot be waived, but reasonable accommodations may be provided based on disability documentation and course outcomes. Accommodations cannot be made retroactively; therefore, to maximize your academic success at Gustavus, please contact Disability Services as early as possible. Disability Services (www.gustavus.edu/advising/disability/) is located in the Academic Support Center. Disability Services Coordinator, Kelly Karstad, (kkarstad@gustavus.edu or x7138), can provide further information.
Support for English learners and multilingual students is available through the Academic Support Center's Multilingual Learner Academic Specialist, Sarah Santos (ssantos@gustavus.edu or x7197). The MLAS can meet individually with students for tutoring in writing, consulting about academic tasks, and helping students connect with the College's support systems. When requested, the MLAS can consult with faculty regarding effective classroom strategies for English learners and multilingual students. The MLAS can provide students with a letter to a professor that explains and supports appropriate academic arrangements (e.g., additional time on tests, additional revisions for papers). Professors make decisions based on those recommendations at their own discretion. In addition, English learners and multilingual students can seek help from peer tutors in the Writing Center ( www.gustavus.edu/writingcenter/).
Course web site: http://homepages.gac.edu/~lyu/teaching/mcs377-f16/index.html