Course info

Hello Everyone!!!

Welcome to the fascinating world of Computer Networks—the invisible technology that powers everything from WhatsApp messages and UPI payments to Google searches, Netflix streaming, online gaming, and cloud computing. 

By the end of this course, you will understand how billions of devices communicate seamlessly across the globe and appreciate the engineering behind the digital world we use every day. Computer Networks is one of the most sought-after subjects in campus placements, forming the foundation for careers in Software Development, Cloud Computing, Cybersecurity, DevOps, AI, IoT, and Network Engineering. Learn this subject with curiosity and dedication, and you won't just prepare for examinations—you will build the knowledge and confidence needed to solve real-world problems and excel in the technology industry.

After completion of the course, you will be able to:

CO1: Familiarize with fundamental underlying principles of computer networking and functionality of layered network architecture

CO2:  Evaluate and Select the most suitable Application Layer protocol (such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, DNS, BitTorrent) as per the requirements of the network application and work with available tools to demonstrate the working of these protocols

CO3:  Model a problem or situation in terms of layering concept and map it to the TCI/IP stack

CO4:  Design a Reliable Data Transfer Protocol and incrementally develop solutions for the requirements of Transport Layer

CO5:  Articulate, analyze and appraise the TCP protocol

CO6:  Describe the essential principles of Network Layers, design the network layer requirements using both IPv4 and IPv6 and understand the supporting IP protocols

Syllabus of the Course:

Unit 1-Introduction: Computer Networks and the Internet, Overall view: As components and as services; What is a protocol, What is a network protocol, Access Networks and Physical Media, Circuit and Packet Switching, Internet Backbone, ISPs and Interconnection of ISPs, Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet-Switched Networks, The Layered Architecture: Protocol Layering, The OSI Reference Model and the TCP/IP protocol stack

Unit 2-Application Layer1: Principles and Architectures of Network Applications, Client and Server processes, the idea of socket, Transport services available to Application layer Application Layer Protocols: The Web and http: Persistent and Nonpersistent connections, http message format, User-Server interaction: cookies, proxy server, conditional GET Email: smtp, mail message formats, accessing mails using http and imap DNS: Services, How it works, Root, Top-Level and Authoritative DNS servers, DNS caching, Recursive and Iterative queries, DNS Records and messages, P2P architecture: Scalability, BitTorrent protocol 

Unit 3-Application Layer2: Video Streaming and Content Distribution Networks, HTTP Streaming and DASH, Content Distribution Network

Transport Layer1: Introduction, Relationship between Transport Layer and Network Layer, Multiplexing and Demultiplexing work of Transport Layer, Connectionless Transport: UDP- Segment Structure of UDP, Checksum

Unit 4-Transport Layer2: Principles of Reliable Data Transfer, Building a reliable data transfer protocol using FSM, stop-and-wait, Go Back N, Selective Repeat, Connection Oriented Transport TCP: Connection Establishment, TCP segment structure in detail, Round Trip Time Estimation and Timeout, TCP Flow Control, TCP Congestion Control: Slow start, Congestion Avoidance, Fast Recovery, Introduction to QUIC: Quick UDP Internet Connections

Unit 5-Network Layer I: Introduction, Network Service Model, The Internet Protocol(IP), IPv4 Datagram format, DHCP, Network Address Translation (NAT), A brief introduction to routing protocols, RIP and OSPF.

Network Programming: Sockets-Address structures, TCP sockets, creating sockets, bind, listen, accept, fork and exec function, close function; TCP client server: Echo server, Elementary UDP sockets: UDP echo server

Textbook:

Jim Kurose and Keith Ross

Computer Networking-A Top Down Approach

8th Edition

Pearson Education

2022

Reference Books:

Authors Name	Title	Edition	Publisher, Country	Year
Andrew Tanenbaum, Nick Feamster and David J. Wetherhall	Computer Networks	6th Edition	Pearson Education	2022
Behrouz A. Forouzan and Firouz Mosharraf	Computer Networks: A Top-Down Approach	Standard Edition	McGraw Hill	2023