The course explains the evolution of computer and communication networks and the design principles of modern network architectures. Primary focus is on system level concepts and engineering design and implementation issues. A top down approach is used to familiarize students with network application design and progressively define the underlying support needed to build such application. A thorough treatment of TCP/IP set of protocols is studied. Some of the recent advancements including multimedia networking, and Software Defined Networking (SDN) will also be studied. In addition, we will study the design and implementation of modern network applications using sockets library.

The associated laboratory component is designed to expose students to the network simulation tools for the analysis of traffic and network protocols.