CS2013-final-report

• Networking subsystem focusing on the transport layer protocols (stop and wait, pipelined, congestion
control, windowing) , network layer protocols (Dijkstra, distance vector) and service models (circuit-,
message-, and packet-switching), link layer protocols (Ethernet, token ring)
• Networking gear (NIC, hubs/repeater, bridge, switch, VLAN)
• Performance of networking (end-to-end latency, throughput, queuing delays, wire delay, time of flight,
protocol overhead).
What is the format of the course
Three hours of lecture per week; Two hours of TA-led recitation per week to provide help on homeworks and
projects; and 3 hours of unsupervised laboratory per week. Video recordings of classroom lectures (from past
offering) available as an additional study aid.
How are students assessed
Two midterms, one final, 5 homeworks, 5 projects (two architecture projects: processor datapath and control
implementation, and augmenting processor to handle interrupts; three OS projects: paged virtual memory
management, multithreaded processor scheduler using pthreads, and reliable transport layer implementation using
pthreads). Plus an extra-credit project (a uniprocessor cache simulator).
Course textbooks and materials
Ramachandran and Leahy Jr., Computer Systems: An Integrated Approach to Architecture and Operating Systems,
Addison-Wesley, 2010.
Why do you teach the course this way
There is excitement when you talk to high school students about computers. There is a sense of mystery as to what
is “inside the box” that makes the computer do such things as play video games with cool graphics, play music—
be it rap or symphony—send instant messages to friends, and so on. What makes the box interesting is not just the
hardware, but also how the hardware and the system software work in tandem to make it all happen. Therefore, the
path we take in this course is to look at hardware and software together to see how one helps the other and how
together they make the box interesting and useful. We call this approach “unraveling the box”—that is, resolving
the mystery of what is inside the box: We look inside the box and understand how to design the key hardware
elements (processor, memory, and peripheral controllers) and the OS abstractions needed to manage all the
hardware resources inside a computer, including processor, memory, I/O and disk, multiple processors, and
network. Since the students take this course in their sophomore year, it also whets the appetite of the students and
gets them interested in systems early so that they can pursue research as undergraduates in systems. The
traditional silo model of teaching architecture and operating systems in later years (junior/senior) restricts this
opportunity. The course was first offered in Fall 1999. It has been offered 3 times every year ever since. Over
the years, the course has been taught by a variety of faculty specializing in architecture, operating systems, and
networking. Thus the content of the course has been revised multiple times; the most recent revision was in 2010.
It is a required course and it has gotten a reputation as a “tough” one, and some students end up taking it multiple
times to pass the course with the required “C” passing grade.
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