Welcome to CS 176C!

Table of contents

1. Course Policies
   1. Student Evaluation
   2. Reading
   3. Prerequisite
2. Course Structure
   1. Quizzes
   2. Class Participation
   3. Assignments
3. Communication
   1. Lectures
   2. Piazza
   3. Etiquettes
4. Course Policy
   1. Cheating
   2. Diversity and Inclusiveness
   3. Disabled Students Program

Course Policies

Student Evaluation

Reading

Networking is a fast-evolving area, and most textbooks have not been able to keep up with recent critical changes in the area. We will use a combination of online lectures, textbooks, and research papers to cover the topics in this course.

Supplementary videos:

Prof. Feamster’s Networking Videos

Supplementary textbooks:

• Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach (7th edition)
• Software-Defined Networks: A Systems Approach
• 5G Mobile Networks: A Systems Approach
• Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Larry Peterson and Bruce Davie

Purchasing these books is not necessary; Most of them are available online, and Kurose and Ross will be on reserve in the library.

Prerequisite

The students are expected to take 176 A and be familiar with networking and operating systems before taking this course. Note: CS 176B is not a pre-requisite for this course.

Course Structure

This course is divided into three broader categories: last-mile network, multimedia networking, and network measurements. There will be no mid-term or end-term exams in this course.

Quizzes

We will have a total of five quizzes in the course. Each of them will have a weightage of eight points.

Class Participation

We will evaluate the class participation based on your active contribution to class discussions led by the course instructor as well as discussion sections led by the TA.

Assignments

In this course, you will be working on four different assignments. Through these assignments, you will learn:

• How to analyze packet captures for wireless networks?
• How to write a report for a hot topic in networking research?
• How to analyze the network data for video streaming and conferencing applications?

Communication

Lectures

Monday and Wednesday, 5:00-6:15 PM, BUCHN 1940

Piazza

We will use Piazza for class communications. I have already sent an invitation to registered students. If you haven’t received it, please use this link to join the workspace. You can join using any @ucsb.edu email address.

Etiquettes

To make sure that this is a helpful resource for everyone, please follow these guidelines when posting on Piazza:

1. Before posting a question check/search through existing questions to see if someone already asked a similar question.
   • Use the filters/folders (e.g., hw1, hw2, etc.) to see what questions were asked regarding specific assignments.
   • As much as possible, keep related questions in the follow-up discussions, instead of creating new posts.
   • Conversely, when posting your question/note, use the appropriate folders/labels.
   • Include “Lab/HW## Q##” in the title of your post, e.g., Lab01 Q2.3.

2. Whenever possible, copy/paste the error as text instead of attaching a picture. Use Piazza’s code formatting if you post sample code. Follow the guidelines below to compose the content of your post.

3. If other students will benefit from the answer to your question (e.g., you are asking about a deadline or a policy), make the question public. We encourage you to make more of your posts public, making private posts only if something that’s too specific to your case or you need to share your code snipped with the instructors.

4. Do not post answers to homework/lab problems. Do not publicly share your code/solution.

5. Use Piazza instead of emailing the course instructor or mentors. (When composing a post, select “Individual students/instructors” (instead of “Entire Class”) and type “Instructors” to include all instructors). Use the “Instructor” posts instead of the individual messages (but follow #3 above).

6. Make sure that all your communication is professional, considerate, and productively contribute to the course. We expect you to abide by the University of California, Santa Barbara general code of conduct for all students. The UCSB policy applies to conduct over Zoom, Piazza, and any other digital tools being used for this course

7. Guidelines for creating a well-structured post:
   • You are going to get a faster and more helpful answer if you tell us:
   • this is the specific question/function that I am working on
   • this is the issue that I am running into,
   • this is my code (make sure the message is private if you are directly sharing your code),
   • here’s the input that I used in calling my functions,
   • here’s the output/error I got,
   • here’s what/where/how the output doesn’t match what I would have expected.

Course Policy

Cheating

Cheating is not tolerated. Please read the UCSB Academic Code of Conduct if you are not familiar with the definition of cheating. If you are caught cheating on an assignment, you will get a zero for that assignment. Other repercussions are also possible, such as being reported to the UCSB Office of Judicial Affairs.

Diversity and Inclusiveness

We (the instructor and the mentors) strive to create an environment in which students from diverse backgrounds and perspectives can be well-served in this course, where students’ learning needs can be addressed both in and out of class, and where the diversity that the students bring to this class is viewed as a resource, strength, and benefit. It is our intent to present materials and activities that are respectful of diversity: gender identity, sexuality, disability, age, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, race, nationality, culture, or religion (or lack thereof). Your suggestions are encouraged and appreciated: help us improve the effectiveness of the course for you personally, or for other students or student groups. If at any point you are made to feel uncomfortable, disrespected, or excluded by the course staff or fellow students, please, don’t hesitate to talk to us about it so that we may address the issue and maintain a supportive and inclusive learning environment. If you are uncomfortable bringing up an issue with the course staff directly, submit anonymous feedback or contact the Office of the Ombud. Help us create a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere that supports a diversity of thoughts, perspectives and experiences, and honors your identities.

These notes are inspired by and adopted from Mine Çetinkaya-Rundel, Hacker Hours, and Kevin Lin.

Disabled Students Program

If you are a registered DSP student and you intend to request a specific accommodation, you should inform me within the first two weeks of the quarter or of enrolling in the DSP. You should also submit your request no less than one week before the scheduled exam so that we can plan for any special arrangements.