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Computer Networks Syllabus
CMPS 376 - Spring 2011
Dr. Melissa Danforth

Office: SciIII 338, 654-3180 
Office Hours: MWF 1:45-3:00pm and MW 4:30-5:30pm (or by appointment)
Email: melissa@cs.csubak.edu
Course web site: http://www.cs.csubak.edu/~melissa/ under Teaching menu

Course meets MWF 3:10-4:25pm and Tu 3:10-5:40pm in Sci III 311

Course Description:
A study of computer networks focusing on the TCP/IP Internet protocols 
and covering the four layers: physical, data link, network, and transport, 
in detail. The lectures will focus extensively on the theory of networking
and the details of several popular protocols. This course also includes a 
weekly laboratory which covers network utilities and network programming.
More course information can be found at the official department course
description webpage:
http://www.cs.csub.edu/newsite/CS/CourseDescription/376_Description_v1.htm

Prerequisite:
CMPS 223

Textbook: 
Computer Networks, 4th edition, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Prentice Hall, 
ISBN 0-13-066102-3.

(Note: There is a 5th edition of this book that was just published, so pay 
close attention to the edition numbers. We are still using the 4th edition.)

Material Covered:

Chapter 1 - Introduction
Chapter 2 - The Physical Layer
Chapter 3 - The Data Link Layer
Chapter 4 - The Medium Access Sublayer
Chapter 5 - The Network Layer
Chapter 6 - The Transport Layer
Chapter 7 - The Application Layer
Chapter 8 - Network Security

View the calendar on the course website to see the order in which these
topics will be presented.

Attendance:
Students are responsible for their own attendance. The topics covered
in lecture will be listed on the course website. Lab attendance is not 
required but is strongly encouraged.

Academic Integrity Policy: 
Assignments may discussed in groups. If the assignment is a group 
assignment, the group turns in one assignment for the entire group. 
However, if the assignment is an individual assignment, each student 
must turn in their own work; no direct copying is allowed. You may 
discuss individual assignments with other students, but you must write 
up the assignment in your own words.  Refer to the Academic Integrity 
policy in the campus catalog.

Computer Lab:
The walk-in computer lab in Sci III 324 is available for use by students 
in this course outside of class time on a first come, first serve basis. 
Priority in the lab is given to students who are completing assignments
for Computer Science courses. The lab typically closes around 5:00pm on
weekdays and is closed on weekends.

Grading:   Labs/Homework   40%
           Midterm         30%
           Final           30%

Grades will be posted on the Moodle website for the course. This is a 
new way for the instructor to distribute grades, so please contact the 
instructor if your overall course grade seems abnormal (too high or too 
low). It might be an issue with Moodle's grade calculation, which is 
still being ironed out. 

Homework/Lab Policy: 
Homeworks and labs may be worked on and discussed in groups, but every 
student must turn in their own assignments in their own words. Refer to
the Academic Integrity Policy above. Assignments will be posted online 
on the course website. The due date will be given with the assignment.

Late Policy:
Late labs are not accepted, however partial credit will be given for
incomplete labs. The lowest lab grade will not count towards your overall
Lab/Homework total.

Late homework is accepted, but it will be marked down 10% for every day 
it is late. If there is no late policy posted on the homework assignment, 
then the homework may be turned in up to three days late. Saturday and 
Sunday combined count as only one day late (e.g. if the assignment is due 
Friday and you turn it in Sunday, it will be marked as one day late). If 
there is a late policy posted on the assignment, then that policy will 
apply for that particular assignment. 

Homework/Lab Submission:
Assignments are submitted by emailing the instructor from the Computer 
Science department server (coding assignments) or by attaching a file to
the Moodle website (non-coding assignments). All files must be in text, 
OpenOffice or PDF format. Do NOT use Microsoft Office formats, particularly 
DOCX or XLSX, as they cannot be read by the instructor. Do not use GMail or 
any other email method for the coding assignments as the campus spam filter 
may block the email without notifying the either you or the instructor. 

Allow at least one week after the assignment due date for the grade to be
posted to Moodle. All coding assignments will have the Comment section of 
Moodle updated to say "assignment received" within a day or two of the 
instructor receiving the email, even if the assignment has not yet been
graded. It is your responsibility to check Moodle to see if your assignment
has been received. If you believe you emailed the assignment on time but 
the instructor has not received it, contact the instructor.

Midterm: Tuesday May 3, 2011 during the lab time slot

A make-up midterm will only be given if you have to miss this midterm for
serious and compelling reasons or if you schedule an alternative time for
the midtem at least ONE WEEK in advance.

Final: Wednesday June 8, 2011 from 5:00-7:30pm in Sci III 311

If you cannot make the scheduled final time because it conflicts with another 
final or you have more than two finals scheduled that day, you MUST contact 
the instructor ONE WEEK in advance of the final to schedule an alternate time.