15-441, Spring 2010: Computer Networks

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5/2/2010: Yet another final exam sample, this time with solutions: Sample exam from spring 2009 is here!
5/2/2010: Final exam sample: Sample exam from spring 2008 is here!
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Overview

15-441 is an introductory course in computer networks. The emphasis will be on the basic performance and engineering tradeoffs in the design and implementation of computer networks. To make the issues more concrete, the class includes several multi-week projects requiring significant design and implementation.

The goal is for students to learn not only what computer networks are and how they work today, but also why they are designed the way they are and how they are likely to evolve in the future. We will draw examples primarily from the Internet. Topics to be covered include: congestion/flow/error control, routing, addressing, naming, multi-casting, switching, internetworking, and network security. Evaluation is based on homework assignments, the projects, and two mid-term exams.

Instructors: Seth Goldstein, Srinivasan Seshan
Lecture time: Tue, Thu 1:30 - 2:50pm in BH A51
Recitations: Fri 10:30-11:20am WeH 5302, 11:30-12:20am PH A19D, & 12:30-1:20am GHC 4102
Units: 12

Course Staff

Teaching Asistants

Name	Email	Office	Office Hours
Kaushik Lakshminarayanan	kaushik AT cs DOT cmu DOT edu	GHC 7223	Thu 4:00 - 5:00pm
Rui Meireles	rui AT cmu DOT edu	GHC 7715	Tue 3:00 - 4:00pm
Daegun Won	daegunw AT andrew DOT cmu DOT edu	West Wing Cluster	Fri 3:30 - 4:30pm

Instructors

Name	Email	Office	Tel	Hours
Seth Goldstein	seth AT cs DOT cmu DOT edu	GHC 7111	268-3828	Wed 1:00 - 2:00pm
Srinivasan Seshan	srini AT cs DOT cmu DOT edu	GHC 8123	268-8734	Mon 9:00 - 10:00am

Course Secretary

Angela Miller, amiller AT cs DOT cmu DOT edu, GHC 9118, Tel: 412-268-6645

Course Policies

Collaboration

Students are encouraged to talk to each other, to the TAs, to the instructors, or to anyone else about any of the assignments. Any assistance, though, must be limited to discussion of the problem and sketching general approaches to a solution. Each student must write out his or her own solutions to the homework. The project handouts have more detailed information about collaboration when working on the projects, but, basically, each programming project group must write their own code and documentation for the programming projects done as a group.

Consulting another student's or group's solution is prohibited, and submitted solutions may not be copied from any source. These and any other form of collaboration on assignments constitute cheating. If you have any question about whether some activity would constitute cheating, please feel free to ask the instructors.

You may not supply work that you complete during 15-441 to other students in future instances of this course or for use in future instances of this course (just as you may not use work completed by students who've taken the course previously).

Late Policy

Take project and homework deadlines seriously. Our experience is that students often seriously underestimate the effort involved in programming assignments and projects. If we give you 4 weeks to complete an assignment, there is typically a reason. In the interest of fairness, we have adopted the following late policy:

Each student is given a total of 2 "free points" to use during the semester.
One free point can be used to extend the deadline of any homework assignment by a single day with no penalty.
Two free points are needed to extend the deadline of Projects II or III by a single day with no penalty (you and your partner might each contribute a point).
In the absence of free points, the deadline for any assignment can be extended with a 15% penalty per day.
No deadline can be extended by more than two days, regardless of how many free points you have saved up. Assignments will NOT be accepted 48 hours after the due date.
If you are ill: If you have a medical note, you may turn in your assignments late without using free points. Please contact the instructors to arrange a reasonable replacement turn-in time. You must notify us before the due-date. Without a medical note, you must use your free points as you would with any other reason for being late.

Re-Grading

If you think we made a mistake in grading, please return the assignment with a note explaining your concern to the course secretary no later than two weeks after the day the assignment was returned. We will have the question re-graded by the person responsible for grading that question.

Partner Problems

Please try to avoid having partner problems. Seriously! Share your hopes before they turn into concerns, your concerns before they have problems, and your problems before they inflate into crises.

Also, in order for the course staff to help you and your partner work through issues, or for us to provide an appropriate response to serious partner problems, you must contact us well before the relevant due date! While some problems can never be truly solved, it is likely that your career after CMU will you to sometimes "involve management" to address issues with co-workers, and will certainly require you to work out all sorts of problems with your co-workers. If you find yourself in a situation which you can't resolve, it will provide you with an opportunity to practice interacting with management.

A special case to avoid is coming to us a day or two before a major deadline to tell us that your partner has been ill (etc.) for multiple weeks. We, and thus you, have many more options if you inform us while a problem is developing, instead of after the fact.

Resources

Class newsgroup: academic.cs.15-441.discuss
If you have a question about a project handout or a technical issue, there is an excellent chance that other students have the same question. Please read the newsgroup to see if there has been traffic, and consider posting your questions there.
Announcements newsgroup: academic.cs.15-441.announce
Staff mailing list: staff-441 at cs dot cmu dot edu
If you have a question you believe is particular to your circumstances and should not be posted in a public forum (e.g., one that involves posting the solution to homework problems), send mail to the staff list, which reaches the instructors and TAs. Questions of general interest sent to the staff list will probably be replied to via the newsgroup. If your question involves a confidential personal or academic-conduct issue, you should probably contact one of the instructors in person or send mail to both.
Suggested study problems - if you'd like a bit more structure to help guide your studying, we list some problems from the book that you might find helpful.