Fall 2005

Course Syllabus, Logistics, Policies & Procedures

Howdy!
Welcome to Broadband Packet Networks (EE 6345). This course deals with the hierarchical design and
analysis of broadband packet networks, especially those which employ the Internet Protocol (IP) at the
network layer and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) at the transport layer. Issues related to
implementation are discussed in detail.

EE 6345 is an alternate core course in the Digital Systems Master's concentration. For this reason, the
course is being re-oriented towards architectural and digital-systems topics, and somewhat away from its
original purpose of helping engineers who are working, or who have worked, in circuit-switched voice
communications to understand data communications and systems for delivery of carrier-grade services via
the Internet.

Topics covered include:

a. the media layer, including a review of digital communications and media properties that affect design
at higher layers
b. the datalink layer, local area networks, switching and bridging, and self-similar traffic
c. the network layer, addressing and routing
d. sockets, reliable, connection-oriented and unreliable, connectionless transport protocols; quality of
service
e. applications such as the World Wide Web, mobile IP, IP telephony, real-time services, and security

Last revised 07/22/2005 at 14:59.

Objectives
Upon completion of EE 6345, students are expected to be familiar with current approaches to the design
and implementation of broadband packet networks. Using the knowledge that they build during the course,
they should be capable of designing a local area network, including the choice of protocols, cabling, hubs,
switches and routers; they should understand how to decide which services to implement on each
connected computer, and understand the concepts involved in troubleshooting a local area network; they
should be able to write simple socket programs for the most common transport protocols. Also, students
who complete this course should understand basic design issues in interworking networks of different types,
and should have a functional understanding of major Internet applications, including HTTP, HTML, RSVP,
RTSP, mobile IP, and Internet security.
Course Topics
The course material is divided into seven modules. Short descriptions of the individual modules, and the
expected time duration of each module, follow:

1. Overview of packet networks (1/2 week)

Topics covered include the design goal of host-to-host transparency, what protocols are and why they
are necessary, a hierarchical approach to designing peer-to-peer links, why packets are necessary,
encapsulation of data from higher layers, internetworking, and the end-to-end principle

2. Media layer: An overview of the physical basis of digital communications (1/2 week)

This module surveys properties of communications media that are important for broadband networks,
including attenuation, dispersion, crosstalk and bandwidth, and concludes with a discussion of bit-
serial versus bit-parallel transmission as a function of the transmission distance

3. Physical layer: A review of digital communications (1/2 week)

A summary of important concepts of digital communications, including baseband and broadband digital
transmission, Shannon's coding theorem, bit signaling and bit -group signaling methods, bit error rate
and bit-group error rate, and time-division and frequency-division multiplexing

4. The public switched telephone network (PSTN) (1/2 week)

A summary of the major architectural features of the PSTN, including digital encoding of speech, the
North American Digital Hierarchy, SONET, and the Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

5. Datalink layer (2 weeks)

This module surveys design choices at the datalink layer and surveys common framing techniques.
Implementations discussed include Ethernet/IEEE 802.3, HFC, FDDI, SLIP, HDLC, PPP, ARP,
bridging, and ATM as a datalink layer

6. Network layer (2 weeks)

This module introduces the network layer, at which internetworked local-area and wide-area networks
appear to be a single network. Topics covered include the Internet Protocol (IP), naming, addressing,
routing, and label switching.

7. Transport layer (2 weeks)

This module covers the layer that interfaces with applications through socket calls. After a review of
design condsiderations and a survey of circuit-switched network and transport protocols, sockets and
the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) will be discussed and illustrated.

8. Application layer (2 weeks)

This module describes the development of network applications, and illustrates the concepts with
some of the most important current applications such as the World Wide Web, mobile IP, IP telephony,
and the delivery of real-time services.

Syllabus
1. Media layer: An overview of the physical basis of digital communications
¡ Electrical and optical transmission lines

¡ Attenuation

¡ Dispersion

¡ Crosstalk
¡ Bandwidth

¡ Bit-serial vs. bit-parallel transmission

2. Overview of packet networks

¡ Peer-to-peer communications

¡ Why protocols are necessary

¡ Why packets/frames are necessary

¡ Encapsulation of data

¡ Overview of internetworking
¡ The end-to-end principle

¡ History and governance of the Internet

3. Physical layer: A review of digital communications

¡ Baseband transmission

¡ Broadband transmission

¡ Shannon's coding theorem

¡ Bit signaling and bit-group signaling methods

¡ Bit error rate and bit-group error rate

¡ Time-division multiplexing
¡ Frequency-division multiplexing

4. The public switched telephone network (PSTN)

¡ The analog telephone network

¡ The post-divestiture PSTN in the US

¡ Digital encoding of speech

¡ North American Digital Hierarchy

¡ SONET

¡ The Synchronous Digital Hierarchy

¡ Common channel signaling

¡ ISDN

¡ ATM

¡ Standardization and regulation

5. Datalink layer
¡ Design choices at the datalink layer

¡ Framing techniques

¡ CSMA networks
¡ Ethernet/IEEE 802.3

¡ Hybrid fiber/coax systems (HFC)

¡ FDDI

¡ SLIP and CSLIP

¡ HDLC

¡ The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)

¡ Overview of address resolution in various types of networks

¡ The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP)

¡ Layer 2 internetworking design issues

¡ Bridged networks

¡ ATM as a datalink-layer protocol

6. Network layer
¡ Design choices at the network layer

¡ Addressing

¡ The Internet Protocol, version 4 (IPv4)

¡ IPv4 addressing
¡ ICMPv4

¡ The Internet Protocol, version 6 (IPv6)

 ¡ IPv6 addressing
¡ ICMPv6
¡ Routing

¡ Label switching (MPLS and other schemes)

7. Transport layer
¡ Design choices at the transport layer

¡ The User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

¡ The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

¡ Network programming APIs

¡ Sockets

¡ The sliding-window protocol

¡ TCP state diagram

¡ TCP data structures

¡ Flow control

¡ TCP parameters

¡ TCP congestion avoidance

¡ TCP performance

8. Application layer
¡ The Domain Name System (DNS)

¡ Booting over the network (BOOTP and DHCP)

¡ Remote Procedure Calls (RCPs)

¡ Network programming APIs

¡ Mobile IP

¡ The World Wide Web

¡ Real-time services

¡ IP telephony

¡ Security in distributed computing

Your Instructor

The course will be taught by Dr. Cyrus D. Cantrell, who received his
baccalaureate degree from Harvard University and his Doctor of
Philosophy and Master of Science degrees from Princeton University.
His primary research fields are computational nonlinear optics as applied
to the design of communications systems, statistical properties of local-
area and wide-area network traffic, and computational electromagnetics
as applied to the design of very-high-speed, deep-submicron VLSI
circuits. His primary teaching fields are Computer Organization and
Design, Broadband Packet Networks, Electromagnetic Engineering,
Nonlinear Optics, Computational Electromagnetics and Computational
Methods in Engineering. In recognition of his research accomplishments,
Dr. Cantrell has been elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Optical Society of America, and the
American Physical Society, and has been awarded the IEEE Third
Millennium Medal. He has published over 100 technical papers, and is
the author of a textbook, Modern Mathematical Methods for
Physicists and Engineers, which was published by the Cambridge
University Press in 2000.

Textbooks
Required Textbook:

l High-Speed Networks and Internets: Performance and Quality of Service , 2nd Edition, by William
Stallings. The author also has a course page for this material.

Recommended Textbooks:

l TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1: The Protocols, by W. Richard Stevens.

l The second volume in Rich Stevens' series is strongly recommended for those who intend to do
TCP/IP programming: TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 2: The Implementation, by Gary R. Wright and W.
Richard Stevens

How to Acquire Textbooks:

l The above textbooks can be purchased from the UT-Dallas bookstore or from Off-Campus Books (581
W. Campbell Road, Suite 101, Richardson, TX, 75080), or they can be ordered from the following
online booksellers:
¡ Amazon.com
¡ Barnes and Noble

Technical Requirements
In order to optimize your experience in this course, we recommend some basic hardware and software.

Hardware:

l PC with 80486 or faster processor, running a version of the linux operating system and the KDE or
Gnome GUI, or a Macintosh computer with Mac OS 10.2 or newer, or a Pentium PC with a processor
running at 500 MHz or faster, running Windows 95/98/ME/XP/2000/NT
l 100 Megabytes of free hard drive space for linux, or 500 Megabytes of free hard drive space for Mac
OS 10, or 2 Gigabytes of free hard drive space for Windows
l CD-ROM drive
l Modem or network to the Internet at 33.6 Kb/s or faster

Software:

l Netscape 7.2, Safari (for Mac OS 10), or Internet Explorer 5 or 6 (Java and JavaScript required).
l A current anti-virus program.
l Adobe Acrobat Reader, version 5.0 or 6.0. This program is freeware, available from the Adobe web
site. This software is needed to read the downloadable lecture notes provided in this course.
l A text editing program.
l E-mail which will handle electronic exchange of documents (attached files).

Course Logistics
Format:

l The material is presented in lectures. The slides that are available on this Web site are a learning
resource in addition to the lectures. The slides are not a substitute for good lecture notes. The slides
have been prepared in Portable Document format, which can be read using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Rules of the Road
Rules for Conference and Chat use:

As you complete any conference or chat assignments that may be given, please adhere to these "rules of
the road":

l Always be polite in the tone of your comments/answers.

l Although I want you to answer questions completely (or fully discuss the issues), please give concise
answers . If you wish to discuss matters that are not directly related to the assignment, please go to the
EE 6345 newsgroup or another location to do so.
l Your answers/responses should be insightful . Show that you have given thought to your response, and
be prepared to logically defend it. Don’t just respond by posting "I agree" or "I disagree" or similar
comments.
l Post your answers/responses promptly . To receive full credit for participation in assigned work, you
must post your answers/responses no later than the date indicated.

If we all work together and follow these rules, web board conferencing may be a meaningful part of the
learning experience for this course.

Prerequisites
EE 6345 is being redesigned to do double duty as one of the CS/EE Online courses and as the second
Master's-level networking course in a sequence of three or four EE networking courses at UT-Dallas. Since
Professor Fumagalli is currently in the process of designing the first course, which will carry the course
number EE 6340, the current EE 6340 is not required as a prerequisite to this instance of EE 6345.
However, the new EE 6340 will be a prerequisite to EE 6345 at some future time, both for on-campus
students and for students who take EE 6345 via the UT Telecampus .

The prerequisites for this semester's instance of EE 6345 are:

l An undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a closely related field.

Students are expected to be familiar with basic concepts of operating systems, higher-level
programming languages, networking, and analog and digital communications at a level equivalent to a
Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering or a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science.
l A background in communications equivalent to EE 4350. Students who lack a background in
communications should do some reading in the textbooks for EE 4350 and EE 4360, which are
Introduction to Communication Systems, by Ferrel G. Stremler (ISBN: 0 -201-18498-2), in EE 4350,
and Digital Communications: Fundamentals and Applications, by Bernard Sklar (ISBN: 0132119390),
in EE 4360. If time permits this semester, Dr. Cantrell will suggest some exercises from these books.
l Students who want additional background in computer and data networking are invited to study the EE
6340 textbook, Data Networks , 2nd Edition, by Dmitri Bertsekas and Robert Gallagher.

Assignments, exams and grades

Grades

Relative weights used in determining grades:

l Class participation: 10%

l Assignments: 20%
l Midterm Exam: 35%
l Project Report: 35%
Letter grades will be assigned according to the following rules based on the overall score:

l >80: A
l 60 — 80: B
l 45 — 60: C
l <45: F

Assignments and Exams

l There will be five homework assignments.

l The assignment due dates for Fall 2005 are:
1. 09/07/2005
2. 09/28/2005
3. 10/19/2005
4. 11/09/2005
5. 11/30/2005
l The examination and report hand-in dates are:
¡ Midterm Exam: 10/26/2005 (starting at 5:30 PM Central Standard Time). The midterm exam will

be closed book and time-limited for 1 hour and 45 minutes. One 8-1/2 X 11 formula sheet (written
on both sides) will be allowed. The examination will be conducted on the campus of the
University of Texas at Dallas, or at other locations. The rules for proctored examinations apply to
this examination.
¡ Final Project Report: 12/01/2005 (by 5:00 PM Central Standard Time). Please refer to the notes

on the report format.

Proctored Exams
All exams will be proctored. If an exam is not taken on the UT-Dallas campus, then, upon completion of the
exam, the answer sheets must be sent to the instructor by e-mail, fax, or by post. Students are strongly
encouraged to take the exams on the UT-Dallas campus. For those who cannot come to UT-Dallas,
examination centers will be also be set up at various locations depending on need.

University Policies
NOTICE OF POLICY ON CHEATING:

Students are expected to be above reproach in all scholastic activities. Students who engage in scholastic
dishonesty are subject to disciplinary penalties, including the possibility of failure in the course and dismissal
from the University. "Scholastic dishonesty includes but is not limited to cheating, plagiarism, collusion, the
submission for credit of any work or materials that are attributable in whole or in part to another person,
taking an examination for another person, any act designed to give unfair advantage to a student or the
attempt to commit such acts." Regents' Rules and Regulations , Part One, Chapter VI, Section 3, Subsection
3.2, Subdivision 3.22.

Since scholastic dishonesty harms the individual, all students, and the integrity of the University, policies on
scholastic dishonesty will be strictly enforced.

WITHDRAWING FROM COURSE & REFUNDS

UTD is guided by a state-mandated refund policy. The amount refunded depends on whether or not you
remain enrolled in other courses. If you drop a class and later withdraw, your refund will reflect the
combination of dropped classes and the remaining hours at the time of withdrawal.
The last date to withdraw from a Fall 2004 course with a grade of "W" is November 1. For other important
dates, please refer to the Fall 2004 calendar.