ECE 6160: Advanced Computer Networks

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ECE 6160 Advanced Computer Networks

• Instructor Dr. Xubin (Ben) He
• Email Hexb_at_tntech.edu
• Tel [phone]
• Course web http//iweb.tntech.edu/hexb/616f07

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Overview

• Syllabus
• How am I going to grade you?
• Outline
• What are to be covered
• Outcomes and Assesments
• Why you should not take this course?

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Prerequisite

• CSC4200 or equivalent
• Basic knowledge about networks and
  communications, including TCP/IP, protocols,
  client, server, and so on

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What topics are covered

• Network Hardware, such as Bridges, Routers, Hubs,
  and Switches
• High Speed Computer Networks
• Storage Networks
• Multimedia Network
• Wireless LAN network
• Network Management
• Network Reliability, Scalability, and related
  issues

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Why you should NOT take this course? IF

• You are NOT ready for the hard and challenging
  work.
• You dont have the background.
• You just want to sit and listen
• You are NOT ready to take the initiative
• This does NOT cover you want.
• Else?

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You are graduate students

• Students need do a lot of self reading and net
  surfing.
• Only key concepts will be covered in the class.
  Students are expected to read the rest from the
  books/papers.
• You will learn how to do research through paper
  reading, research report writing, oral
  presentation

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Reading Papers

• Understand /identify the basic idea
• What kind of a paper?
• Performance, vision, new direction/protocol paper
• Summarize key idea
• Major aspects of the paper
• New, breakthrough, incremental,
• Readability, Assumptions (valid?), scaling issues
  (does it scale), implementation (has it been
  implemented), measurements (problems?)

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Whats a network?

• Carrier of information between 2 or more entities
• Some carry objects/people (postal, air, surface
  transport)
• Most important is the services offered
• User expectation of service
• Latency, cost, reliability, service interface,
  others
• We focus on computer networks
• Interconnection may be any medium capable of
  communicating information
• copper wire
• Lasers (optic fibre)
• Microwave
• Cable (coax)
• satellite link
• Example Ethernet

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Why networks?

• Availability of Resources
• Resources become available regardless of the
  users physical location (server based,
  peer2peer)
• Load Sharing/utilization
• Jobs processed on least crowded machine
• Resources can be shared
• High Reliability
• Alternative source of supply (multiple copies)
• Human-to-Human Communication
• e.g., Telephone

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Whats Internet Technology?
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Sample Internet Applications.

• Electronic mail
• World Wide Web
• Remote terminal
• File transfer (FTP)
• Newsgroups

• File sharing
• Resource distribution
• Video conferencing
• Games

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Impact of the Network on People
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Impact of the Network on Society
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Internet Players
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Next

• Review of the network concepts