CS2013-final-report

As a result of this format, there are actually only 12 hours of direct student/faculty contact. The hours shown for
various areas in the “Body of Knowledge” section below are therefore out of 10 hours rather than the 36 or so hours
available in a typical lecture-based course.
How are students assessed
Students complete weekly written assignments, one significant programming project, and take two open-book takehome
examinations.
Course textbooks and materials
The course uses Peterson and Davie, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach as a text. Other readings can be
found on the course web site.
Why do you teach the course this way
The course was developed shortly after our institution initiated the tutorial format. The motivation for the format
was to strengthen each student’s ability to learn independently and to engage in an intellectual discussion
effectively. As a result, the course design places relatively little emphasis on programming projects and much more
emphasis on analytical problems. This also shifted the topics covered and the emphasis placed on various topics. In
particular, areas that are well suited to mathematical analysis (contention-resolution protocols, error-correcting
codes, etc.) receive more attention than they might if the course were offered in a more traditional lecture/lab format.
Body of Knowledge coverage
KA Knowledge Unit Topics Covered Hours
AR Interfacing and Communication Compare common network organizations 1
CN Fundamentals Modelling and abstraction, simulation as dynamic
modelling, create a formal mathematical model and use
for simulation
DS Discrete Probability Finite probability space, events
Axioms of probability and probability measures
independence
1
1
IAS Network Security Network specific threats and attack types (e.g., denial of
service, spoofing, sniffing and traffic redirection, man-inthe-middle,
0.5
message integrity attacks, routing attacks, and
traffic analysis); Use of cryptography for data and
network security; Security for wireless
IAS Cryptography The Basic Cryptography Terminology covers notions
pertaining to the different (communication) partners,
secure/unsecure channel, attackers and their capabilities,
encryption, decryption, keys and their characteristics,
signatures, etc.; Overview of Mathematical Preliminaries
where essential for Cryptography; includes topics in
linear algebra, number theory, probability theory, and
statistics.; Public Key Infrastructure support for digital
signature and encryption and its challenges.
0.5
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