6.829 Computer Networks Schedule (Fall 2003)

All notes are Copyright ©  Hari Balakrishnan (1998-2003)

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6.829 students -- Please note:

1. The course is structured in four modules: 1) Internetworking and routing; 2) Resource management; 3) Wireless networking, and 4) New network services.  The modules are inter-related.
2. Lecture numbers (L1, L2, etc.) are linked to corresponding lecture notes.  Generally, these will appear on this page soon after the lecture.  Not all notes are in flowing text; usually they are in bullet form and highlight things I consider important about each paper or the area being discussed.
3. For all lectures, you MUST try and read the assigned papers BEFORE lecture.  I will not repeat a lot of detail of what's in the paper, but instead focus only on a few important pieces, and give you a flavor of other work in the area as well.  You're likely to get the most out of each lecture if you read the material beforehand.
4. Pay attention to the due dates for problem sets, project proposal, project interim status, and other deadlines.  All deadlines are hard.
5. The paper codes refer to papers found on the course reading list.  They are also linked to the ps/pdf copy of the paper, in cases when an online version is available.  All other papers will be handed out in class.
6. You will be responsible for material covered in recitations; i.e., they’re fair game on tests.
7. Paper codes in parentheses (e.g., (RJ90)) are optional reading.  Read some of these if you have time, or if you’re especially interested in the corresponding material.  You'll learn a great deal and may find it useful for your project.

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Date	Topics	Readings	Optional reading; remarks
L1 9/4 Th	Part I: Internetworking & Routing Packet switching concepts.  A simple switched network.	L0 for background	Read L0 notes.
L2 9/9 Tu	The internetworking problem. The IP/TCP split. Internet architecture. The IP forwarding path. PS 1 assigned (due 9/18)	Cla88, Hin96 (skim)	(CK74) is the seminal TCP/IP paper. Note that today’s TCP/IP looks quite different.
L3 9/11 Th	Scaling IP. Coping with best effort: TCP functions; Application-level framing (ALF).	L3 notes (skim before class), CT90	(BCDP97) gives a slick method for fast longest prefix matching of IP addresses.
T1 9/12 F	Recitation: Intra-domain routing (attend if you don’t know link-state and distance-vector routing)
L4 9/16 Tu	Unicast Internet routing: Inter-domain routing. Project suggestions handed out; proposals due Monday 9/29/03 by 4pm in NE43-511	L4 notes	Note: For intra-domain routing background, see any undergraduate text's routing chapter to learn about distance-vector and link-state routing.
L5 9/18 Th	More Internet routing. Internet routing in-the-wild. PS 1 due (in class); PS 2 assigned (due 10/2);	Pax97
T2 9/19 F	Recitation: IPv6 & BGP Routing Tables	Hin96 (no skim!)
L6 9/23 Tu	IP multicast routing.	MS97	Read sections XXX, …
L7 9/25 Th	Router design and implementation.	P+98 , McK96	Stanford Sigcomm 2003 paper?
T3 9/26 F	Recitation: Intro to the ns2 network simulator
9/29/03 M	Project proposals due by 5pm in NE43-511.  Four hard copies. Note: Don't forget your names and email addresses!
L8 9/30 Tu	Part II: Resource management End-to-end congestion control.	JK88 , CJ89
L9 10/2 Th	Other end-to-end c.c. ideas. Router-assisted congestion control – I: Active Queue Management. PS 2 due (in class); PS 3 assigned (due 10/16)	FJ93	(BB01), (FHP00), (RJ90)
T4 10/3 F	Recitation: Congestion control (Explicit congestion notification, XCP)	(KHR02)	This is optional reading, but you’ll be expected to understand the material covered in recitation.
L10 10/7 Tu	Router-assisted congestion control – II: Fair queueing & variants.	DKS90, SSZ98	(SV95) is a paper on deficit round robin, an efficient way to implement fair queueing.
L11 10/9 Th	QoS: Basic models & architectures.	She95, CF98, (CSZ92 optional)	RSVP (Z+95) (RFC 2205-2209)
T5 10/10 F	Recitation: Denial of Service Attacks; IP Traceback	(Sno+01)	This is optional reading, but you’ll be expected to understand the material covered in recitation.
L12 10/14 Tu	Security problems with the Internet architecture.	SPW02	(Bel89) discusses TCP/IP security weaknesses. (ASSW02) discusses robustness.
10/16 Th	Lecture cancelled. PS 3 due (in class)		(Bol93)(JD02)
T6 10/17 F	Recitation: Quiz 1 Review
10/21 Tu	Quiz 1: In class at the regular class time	All material covered so far
10/23 Th	Project meetings by appointment for groups that want it (most of the day)
T7 10/24 F	Recitation cancelled.		(WGJPS01)
L13 10/28 Tu	Part III: Wireless networking MAC and channel access protocols.	BDSZ94, Li+01	(She96)
L14  10/30 Th	Wireless routing and path selection.	DABM03	(BMJ+98) has more details on mobile ad hoc routing.
T8 10/31 F	Recitation: Project office hours
L15 11/4 Tu	Wireless data transport: Error-prone and variable links.	BPSK97, CCP03
L16 11/6 Th	Sensor networks.	IGE00	Compare directed diffusion (IGE00) to IP multicast routing, (MFHW02)
T9 11/7 F	Recitation: Wireless networking	(KB02)	This is optional reading, but you’ll be expected to understand the material covered in recitation.
11/11 Tu	Institute holiday; no class
L17 11/13 Th	Part IV: Network services Lookups: hierarchical (DNS) & peer-to-peer (DHTs).	Bal+03, MD88	Self-similarity and long-range dependence
T10 11/14 F	Recitation: DNS tricks	JSBM01	(DDO92), (JBB03), (GSG02)
L18  11/18 Tu	DHTs and P2P networking.	Sto+01, Cha+03	(Cla00) is the Freenet paper.
L19 11/20 Th	More DHT, Overlay networks.	ABKM01	(Chu+03), (LBK02), (RD01)
T11 11/21 F	No recitation.
L20 11/25 Tu	Multicast services -- Application-layer multicast. Reliable multicast.	BBK02, Fl+97
11/27 Th, 11/28 F	Happy thanksgiving! Institute holiday; no class
L21  12/2 Tu	Wrap up. No assigned reading.	No assigned reading.
12/4 Th	Project presentations all day
12/5 F	Project presentations all day
12/9 Tu	Quiz 2: In class at the regular class time. All material after Quiz 1.
12/12 F	Project papers due at **3pm** in NE43-510 Two copies of 8-10 page conference-style paper, >=10-point font, single-spaced , single- or double-column.  Page count includes everything -- figures, tables, etc.

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