Here is the tentative schedule of lectures and due dates. The lecture material for future lectures may change.

Lecture and notes logistics: Here’s how lectures generally work:

  • Before each lecture, we will post handout-style notes (“blank notes”) that you can use to follow along and annotate. After class, the instructor will post an annotated version (“class notes”). It may take a few hours before the class notes are available.
  • Recordings for each lecture will be published shortly after the lecture ends; if you do not see a link yet, check this page (Brown login required).

About deadlines: Assignments are typically due at 11:59pm on the date listed. Note that the release dates for homeworks may change based on the progress of lectures. (If this happens, we will adjust the content, the deadline, or both, to make up for it.)

Legend for readingsSome of the readings listed here refer to sections of our various (not required) class textbooks, keyed by the name of the first author, specifically:
  • Dordal: “An Introduction to Computer Networks” by Peter Dordal. (Available free online).
  • Peterson: “Computer Networks: A Systems Approach” (5th edition), by Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie.
DayDateEventsDeadlines
Mon
Jan 19
Tue
Jan 20
Wed
Jan 21
First day of classes
Thu
Jan 22
LEC 1: Course Intro
📄 Blank notes (PPTX, PDF)
🎥Video
Fri
Jan 23
Mon
Jan 26
Tue
Jan 27
LEC 2: Layering and Sockets
📄 Blank notes (PPTX, PDF)
🎥Video
💻 Code examples:
DUE: Homework 0: Background survey
Assigned: Snowcast
Wed
Jan 28
Thu
Jan 29
DUE: Project 0 (Setup)
Fri
Jan 30
Mon
Feb 2
DUE: Snowcast (Milestone)
Tue
Feb 3
Wed
Feb 4
Thu
Feb 5
LEC 5: Switching
Fri
Feb 6
Mon
Feb 9
Tue
Feb 10
LEC 6: IP Addressing and Forwarding
DUE: Snowcast (everything)
Assigned: IP
Assigned: Homework 1
Wed
Feb 11
Thu
Feb 12
LEC 7: IP Forwarding Mechanics
DUE: IP (milestone)
Fri
Feb 13
Mon
Feb 16
Long weekend
Tue
Feb 17
Long weekend
Wed
Feb 18
Thu
Feb 19
LEC 8: IP Wrinkles (DHCP, NAT)
Fri
Feb 20
Mon
Feb 23
Tue
Feb 24
LEC 9: Inter-domain routing (RIP)
DUE: Homework 1
Wed
Feb 25
Thu
Feb 26
LEC 10: Intra-domain routing (BGP)
Fri
Feb 27
Mon
Mar 2
Tue
Mar 3
LEC 11: BGP policies and shenanigans
Assigned: Homework 2
Wed
Mar 4
Thu
Mar 5
LEC 12: Ports and TCP intro
DUE: IP (everything)
Fri
Mar 6
Assigned: TCP
Mon
Mar 9
Tue
Mar 10
LEC 13: TCP fundamentals
Wed
Mar 11
Thu
Mar 12
LEC 14: TCP fundamentals II
Fri
Mar 13
DUE: Homework 2
Mon
Mar 16
Tue
Mar 17
LEC 15: TCP sliding window
Assigned: Homework 3
Wed
Mar 18
Thu
Mar 19
LEC 16: TCP teardown, congestion control
Fri
Mar 20
DUE: TCP (milestone 1)
Mon
Mar 23
Spring recess
Tue
Mar 24
Spring recess
Wed
Mar 25
Spring recess
Thu
Mar 26
Spring recess
Fri
Mar 27
Spring recess
Mon
Mar 30
Tue
Mar 31
LEC 17: DNS
Wed
Apr 1
Thu
Apr 2
LEC 18: DNS for fun and profit
DUE: Homework 3
Fri
Apr 3
Assigned: Homework 4
Mon
Apr 6
Tue
Apr 7
LEC 19: HTTP
DUE: TCP (milestone 2)
Wed
Apr 8
Thu
Apr 9
LEC 20: HTTP performance and scaling
Fri
Apr 10
Mon
Apr 13
Tue
Apr 14
LEC 21: HTTP push, responsiveness
Wed
Apr 15
Thu
Apr 16
LEC 22: APIs, RPCs
DUE: Homework 4
Assigned: Homework 5
Fri
Apr 17
DUE: TCP (everything)
Mon
Apr 20
Assigned: Final Project
Tue
Apr 21
LEC 23: IPoAC, TLS
Wed
Apr 22
Thu
Apr 23
LEC 24: TLS, PKI
Fri
Apr 24
DUE: Homework 5
Mon
Apr 27
Tue
Apr 28
LEC 25: How to (try) to be anonymous, Wrapup
Wed
Apr 29
Thu
Apr 30
Fri
May 1
Mon
May 4
DUE: Final Project (everything)
Tue
May 5
Wed
May 6
Thu
May 7
Fri
May 8


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