Spring 2016
ENSC 427: COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
TOPICS
WEEK IN REVIEW
ASSIGNMENTS
EXAMS
TEXTBOOKS
SCHEDULE
STAFF
PROJECTS
TOOLS
WEB SITES
INFO
Current count of email messages related to ENSC 427 exchanged this term:
263.
Course description:
This course covers the techniques needed to understand and analyze modern
data communications networks. It covers the basic architecture
of packet networks and their network elements (switches, routers, bridges),
and the protocols used to enable transmission of packets through the network.
Quantitative performance analysis and design of data and integrated services networks. Re-transmission error recovery schemes, networks of queues, congestion control, routing strategies. Multiple access techniques in data networks, design for specified throughput and delay performance. Wireless networks, routing approaches in mobile networks. Analysis and design of broadband integrated services digital networks, asynchronous time division multiplexing.
Laboratory work is included in this course.
This is a project oriented undergraduate course.
Students will be introduced to various tools for simulating communication networks:
ns-2, ns-3, and Riverbed Modeler (formerly OPNET from OPNET Technologies).
Pre-requisites:
Successful completion of ENSC 327-3 or permission of the instructor.
Note: ENSC Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) does not permit enrollment in ENSC 427
if you have not successfully completed ENSC 327.
TOPICS:
Communication Networks and Services
Application of Layered Architecture
Digital Transmission Fundamentals (overview only)
Circuit-Switched Networks
Peer-to-Peer Protocols and Data Link Layer
Medium Access Control Protocols and Local Area Networks
Packet-Switched Networks
TCP/IP
WEEK IN REVIEW:
1. January 4, 2016
2. January 11, 2016 (revsied)
3. January 18, 2016 (revised)
4. January 25, 2016 (revised)
5. February 1, 2016
*. February 8, 2016
6. February 15, 2016
7. February 22, 2016 (revised: Thu Mar 3 18:06:26 PST 2016)
8. February 29, 2016 (revised: Wed Mar 23 10:25:58 PDT 2016)
9. March 7, 2016 (revised: Mon Mar 21 11:51:45 PDT 2016)
10. March 14, 2016 (revised: Mon Mar 21 11:51:45 PDT 2016)
11. March 21, 2016
12. March 28, 2016
13. April 4, 2016
13. April 11, 2016
ASSIGNMENTS:
Posted weekly by Friday. Due by the following week on Sunday (firm deadline).
Assignment #1
Assignment #2
Assignment #3
Assignment #4 (revised)
Assignment #5
Assignment #6
Assignment #7
Assignment #8
Assignment #9
Assignment #10
Assignment #11
Assignment #12
Assignment #13
GRADING SCHEMES:
Assignment #1
Assignment #2
Assignment #3
Assignment #4
Assignment #5
Assignment #6
Assignment #7 (revised: Fri Feb 26 17:20:29 PST 2016)
Assignment #8
Assignment #9
Assignment #10
Assignment #11
EXAMS:
MIDTERM EXAM:
Monday, March 7, 2016, 12:30 - 14:20, WMC 2202 (revised: Wednesday, March 9, 2016, 12:30 - 14:20; Mon Feb 29 16:51:25 PST 2016)
FINAL EXAM:
Friday, April 22, 2016, 3:30 pm - 6:30 pm, room AQ 5006
FAS policy on mid-terms and finals is described in Section 5.7 of the FAS Handbook.
Academic honesty and plagiarism
PROJECT REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS:
Project proposal(s) are due
February 7, 2016 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
Project title, abstract, and a list of five references are due
February 14, 2016 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
Web page describing your project including the list of five references is due
February 21, 2016 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
Interim report is due March 20, 2016 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
The following files are due on Sunday, April 17, 2016 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute):
- Presentation slides (Power Point and PDF files) of your final project,
- URL for the web pages of your final project, and
- Final written report (LaTEX or MS Word file and PDF file) of your final project.
Project class presentations will be held in class on Monday, April 11, 2016.
The final project grading policy
The final project grading form
GRADING:
Assignments 10%, midterm exam 20%, final exam 25%, project class presentation 10%, and
final project report 35%.
Click here to see your
scores
and
midterm exam,
final exam,
and
overall scores
distribution charts.
RESOURCES:
Conflict resolution
TEXTBOOKS:
Recommended reading:
A. Leon-Gracia and I. Widjaja,
Communication Networks: Fundamental Concepts and Key Architectures,
2nd edition,
McGraw-Hill, 2004.
Errata page.
J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross,
Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, 6/E,
Addison Wesley, 2012.
J. Walrand and P. Varaiya,
High-performance Communication Networks, 2/e,
Morgan Kaufmann, 2000.
   
Online version
(click on "Full text - Books 24x7 limited to 5 simultaneous users" link once you access the page).
S. Keshav,
Engineering Approach to Computer Networking: ATM Networks, the Internet, and the Telephone Network,
Addison Wesley, 1997.
J. Walrand,
Communication Networks, A First Course, 2/e,
McGraw-Hill, 1998.
D. Bertsekas and R. Gallager,
Data Networks, Second edition,
Prentice Hall, 1992.
L. L. Peterson and B. Davie,
Computer Networks, A Systems Approach, 3rd edition,
Morgan Kaufmann, 1999.
Other related sources:
T. G. Robertazzi,
Computer Networks and Systems,
Queuing Theory and Performance Evaluation, Third edition,
Springer Verlag, 2000.
M. De Prycker,
Asynchronous Transfer Mode: Solutions for Broadband ISDN,
Ellis Horwood, 1991.
I. Katzela,
Modeling and Simulating Communication Networks,
A Hands-on Approach Using OPNET,
Prentice Hall, 1999.
Check the status of the books on reserve for
ENSC 427
by typing "ENSC 427" (with the space) in the search window.
JOURNALS:
IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
IEEE Network, The magazine of global information exchange
IEEE Communications Magazine
ACM Computer Communication Review
IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications
IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking
SCHEDULE:
Lectures:
Monday 12:30 - 14:20 in WMC 2202
Wednesday 12:30 - 13:20 in WMC 2202
Tutorial:
Wednesday 13:30 - 14:20 in WMC 2202 and ESIL Lab ASB 1000B/ASB 10802
Projects:
ENSC Undergraduate Computer room: ESIL Lab ASB 1000B/ASB 10802 (open lab).
PROFESSOR:
TEACHING ASSISTANTS:
-
No TA is available for the course this term.
COMPUTING HELP:
PROJECTS:
ENSC 427 Spring 2016 project teams
ENSC 427 Spring 2016 project proposals
ENSC 427 Spring 2016 projects
Presentation schedule
Instructions for in class presentations
of your ENSC 427 final projects
Instructions for writing
ENSC 427 final project reports
IEEE Tools for Authors for writing papers.
See subsection Template for Transactions,
"Instructions Only" (updated).
Samples of past projects:
Past course web pages are located at:
http://www2.ensc.sfu.ca/~ljilja/teaching.html
SOFTWARE TOOLS:
Instructions how to run Riverbed Modeler (formerly OPNET) (under revision)
Get familiar with Linux/CentOS.
The following sites have links to useful Unix tutorials and documentation:
    http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-unix-commands-cheat-sheets.html
    http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html
    http://wiki.centos.org/HowTo
To run ns-2 and/or ns-3 on a PC running MS operating system, download:
    Option 1 (easier):
Ubuntu virtual machine. Login and password may be found on the same page.
Downlaod
VirtualBox
in order to run the virtual machine.
    Option 2:
cygwin
Review:
    Running tools remotely
Riverbed Modeler
version 18.0 environment settings
Riverbed Modeler main page
ns-3 website,
ns-3 tutorial,
ns-3 documentation, and
ns-3 wiki page
ns-2 simulator and
documentation
BlueHoc: Bluetooth Performance Evaluation Tool
Network Designer (NetDes) with ns Java applet
Ptolemy
Omnet++
S-PLUS for Unix
and
S-PLUS for Windows
Wireshark network protocol analyzer
Quagga Routing Suite
GNU Zebra: Free routing software
TRAFFIC TRACES:
locally available short traces
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
FAQ in 2016
FAQ in 2015
Email messages with hints and answers to some frequently asked questions.
(Check FAQ pages from prior ENSC 427 offerings for useful hints.)
WEB SITES OF INTEREST:
Communication Networks Laboratory
Research with OPNET at SFU
Previous offerings of ENSC 427, ENSC 833, ENSC 835, ENSC 894, and ENSC 895
Acronyms:
Dictionary of Acronyms in Communications and Informatics (DACI)
http://www.csrstds.com/acro-a-d.html
General references:
What is page
Documents:
Internet Requests for Comments (RFC) site:
IETF
Daily news of interest:
Wired News: DoS: Defense Is the Best Offense
Fun things:
RFC 1121
RFC 1149
RFC 2100
UC Berkeley EECS20:
Structure and Interpretation of Signals and Systems
INFO:
TOPICS
WEEK IN REVIEW
ASSIGNMENTS
EXAMS
TEXTBOOKS
SCHEDULE
STAFF
PROJECTS
TOOLS
WEB SITES
INFO
Created by
Ljiljana Trajkovic
ljilja at cs.sfu.ca
Last modified:
Wed Mar 23 10:25:58 PDT 2016.