CS 542 Computer Networking (Spring 2025)

Instructor: Dr Nik Sultana, Department of Computer Science, Illinois Institute of Technology
Lecture Time: MW 11:25-12:40 CT    Lecture Location: IIT Tower, 1F6-1
TA: Alexander Wolosewicz (awolosewicz@hawk).
Office Hours:     Alexander: Tuesdays and Thursdays at 15:30-16:30,       Nik: Mondays at 09:00-10:00 (: Away on 2/17, 3/10 and 4/14)
Announcements: On Canvas.
Course content: This page and Canvas.
Policies: See the policies page.
Books and material:

Course Calendar

   The final exam takes place during Exam Week and isn't shown in the course calendar. The date of that exam will be communicated to you by the Registrar later during the semester.

MondayTuesday WednesdayThursday Friday
Jan 13
LEC 1: Introduction and Course Outline
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 1
Jan 14
Jan 15
LEC 2: Introduction (continued)
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 1
Jan 16
Jan 17
Jan 20
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day -- No Classes
Assignment 1 released
Jan 21
Jan 22
LEC 3:
Preparation: Browse
https://portal.fabric-testbed.net/.
Jan 23
Jan 24
Jan 27
LEC 4: Deeper dive into FABRIC.
Preparation: Logon to FABRIC and create a slice.
DUE: Assignment 1
Jan 28
Jan 29
LEC 5: Packet analysis
Preparation: See Wireshark user guide and tutorial videos.
Jan 30
Jan 31
Feb 03
LEC 6: Network Profiling
Preparation: Read "Profiling internet backbone traffic: behavior models and applications".
Assignment 2 released
Feb 04
Feb 05
LEC 7: Network Profiling
Feb 06
Feb 07
Feb 10
LEC 8: Physical Layer
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 2
Feb 11
Feb 12
LEC 9: Physical Layer
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 2
Feb 13
Feb 14
Feb 17
LEC 10: Guest lecture: Alexander Wolosewicz: Network Debugging
Preparation: Read Using Packet Histories to Troubleshoot Networks
DUE: Assignment 2
Assignment 3 released
Feb 18
Feb 19
LEC 11: Link Layer
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 3 & 4
Feb 20
Feb 21
Feb 24
LEC 12: Link Layer
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 3 & 4
Feb 25
Feb 26
LEC 13: Introduction to P4
Preparation: Work through the basic example of the P4 tutorial.
Feb 27
Feb 28

Assignment 4 released
Mar 03
LEC 14: P4 examples
Preparation: Work through the calculator example of the P4 tutorial.
DUE: Assignment 3
Mar 04
Mar 05
LEC 15: More advanced P4
Preparation: Work through the MRI example of the P4 tutorial.
Mar 06
DUE: Assignment 4
Mar 07
Mar 10
LEC 16: A Duality between Experiments and Tools on FABRIC
Mar 11
Mar 12
LEC 17: Link Layer
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 3 & 4

Assignment 5 released
Mar 13
Mar 14
Mar 17
Spring Break Week -- No Classes
Mar 18
Spring Break Week -- No Classes
Mar 19
Spring Break Week -- No Classes
Mar 20
Spring Break Week -- No Classes
Mar 21
Spring Break Week -- No Classes
Mar 24
Mid-term Exam
Mar 25
Mar 26
LEC 9: Guest lecture: Alexander Wolosewicz: Network Security
DUE: Assignment 5
Mar 27
Mar 28
Mar 31
LEC 9: Guest lecture: John Kristoff: Hot Topics in Internet Infrastructure Systems and Security
Apr 01
Apr 02
LEC 18: Network layer
Preparation: Read CN Chapter 5
Apr 03
Apr 04
More details will be added to the calendar as the semester progresses.