CPSC 317: Introduction to Computer Networking
Course Staff
// Lectures
// Calendar
// Prerequisites
// Waiting List
//
Grading Scheme
// CBTF
// Overview
// Textbook and References
// Online Learning Tools
//
Weather Contingency
// Academic Integrity
// University Policies and Support
// Course Policies
| Instructor | In-person office hour | Online office hour |
|---|---|---|
| Norm Hutchinson (Section 201) | Mon, 4:00-5:00pm SWNG 306 | Tue, 3:30-4:30pm (Zoom link) |
| Aastha Mehta (Section 202) | Wed, 1:30-2:30pm, ICCS 335 Mon, 4:00-5:00pm, ICCS 335 | Tues, 10-11am (Zoom link) |
Mon, Wed, Fri
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM, PHRM 1101 (Section 202)
3:00 PM – 4:00 PM, SWNG 121 (Section 201)
See here.
Instructors cannot waive these prerequisites, if you do not have them please see the Rules for Appeals about Prerequisites.
Do not contact the instructor or course staff about the waiting list or about admission into the class. Waitlists are processed in priority order by the department. Instructors have no knowledge or control over the class composition, waitlists, and who gets into the course. We cannot sign course registration forms. If you have any questions about registration, please contact the CS advisors.
If you are on the waiting list and expect to enroll, you are required to keep up with all the course work. If you are on the waiting list, attend any lecture section and tutorial that works for you until you are able to get in the course.
In order to pass you must:
Class participation: In each lecture class, there will be iClicker questions and in-class activities worth a small number of points. We will drop roughly 10-20% of these components for the final grading.
Quizzes: There will be 5 quizzes roughly at two weeks intervals. We will consider the 4 best scores for your final grade.
If you are going to miss a quiz, write to cpsc317-admin@cs.ubc.ca as soon as you are aware of the situtation. If you miss one quiz, the remaining 4 quizzes will be considered for your final grade. If you miss more than one quiz, we will move the weights to other quizzes.
Assignments: All assignments will be available starting Monday of a week and will span two or three weeks. The assignment submission deadlines will be on Sunday 23:59:59h in the last week. For example, PA1 will start on January 15, 2024 and the deadline will be January 28, 2024 at 23:59:59h.
You can submit your assignments multiple times on PrairieLearn. The latest submission on PrairieLearn will be considered for evaluation.
You will have upto 96 hours of extra time that you can use across any of the assignments without providing any explanations. The timestamp of your latest submission will be used to determine the number of extra hours and will be counted in the granularity of 1 hour. For example, if the submission deadline is January 28, 2024 at 23:59:59h and you submit your assignment on January 29, 2024 at 07:14:23h, you would have used 8 out of 96 hours of the extra time alloted to you. You can check the number of extension hours remaining at this URL: https://www.students.cs.ubc.ca/~cs-317/extensions/.
We will not be providing further extensions beyond the 96 hours. If you cannot finish any assignment even with the extra hours, write to cpsc317-admin@cs.ubc.ca along with the reasons. We will exempt you from the assignment and shift the weight to the other submitted assignments.
The quizzes will be conducted in the Computer Based Test Facility, which allows you the flexibility of taking the quizzes at your convenient date and time.
Each of the five quizzes will be run for several days in the week they are scheduled. For example, the first quiz will run during the week of Jan 29th through Feb 2nd, the second quiz will run during the week of Feb 12th through Feb 16th, and so on. You will be able to register for a 1-hour slot on the CBTF portal one week before the week of a quiz.
Inside the CBTF, you will be giving the test on a computer via PrairieLearn. The CBTF only supports exams that are closed book and closed notes; our quizzes will comply with this requirement. No electronic devices, such as laptops and tablets will be allowed.
Our plan is to use the CBTF for the final exam as well, although this might change. The exam format will be announced well ahead of time.
Computer networks are pervasive and we use them daily yet we often do not give a lot of thought to how they are put together, how they work, how applications use them, and what the underlying fundamental principles are that allow us to build and design applications using computer networks. In this course you should:
The material will be framed by looking at the key strategies and models for addressing:
There will be assigned reading from the textbook along with pointers to relevant practice problems in the text.
The course textbook is:
Title: Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach – seventh edition (get 8th edition if buying new or if you plan on taking 417)
Authors: James Kurose and Keith Ross
ISBN-13: 978-0-13-359414-0
We are officially using the 7th/8th edition, and all references to assigned readings and problems will be based on those editions. If you have the 6th edition, you are welcome to use it, but you are responsible for any material that is in the 7th edition but not in the 6th.
If you need to purchase a copy of the text don’t forget to check sites like Amazon and Chapters/Indigo as they are sometimes cheaper. If you just want an online version Vital Source offers textbook rental as well as a Lifetime Access option. (Please note that I am NOT endorsing Vital Source but simply pointing out the option; should you choose to use this service it is your responsibility to ensure that the various access methods and restrictions meet your needs and that you are comfortable with their privacy commitments and tracking of you.)
These books are not required, but may provide additional support or study material.
We are not using Canvas for 317 this term.
If in-person activities in our course are cancelled due to weather conditions (e.g., snow), please monitor https://www.cs.ubc.ca for information, the pinned posts section on Piazza for announcements on our course, and your UBC-registered e-mail. Specifically, in the event of such cancellations, we will:
normalexam rescheduling. Follow Piazza and your UBC-registered e-mail for more information.)
If rescheduling causes problems for you that require academic concession, please reach out as usual to cpsc317-admin@cs.ubc.ca with details.
The academic enterprise is founded on honesty, civility, and integrity. As members of this enterprise, all students are expected to know, understand, and follow the codes of conduct regarding academic integrity. At the most basic level, this means submitting only original work done by you and acknowledging all sources of information or ideas and attributing them to others as required. This also means you should not cheat, copy, or mislead others about what is your work. Violations of academic integrity (i.e., misconduct) lead to the breakdown of the academic enterprise, and therefore serious consequences arise and harsh sanctions are imposed. For example, incidences of plagiarism or cheating may result in a mark of zero on the assignment or exam and more serious consequences may apply if the matter is referred to the President’s Advisory Committee on Student Discipline. Careful records are kept in order to monitor and prevent recurrences.
UBC provides resources to support student learning and to maintain healthy lifestyles but recognizes that sometimes crises arise and so there are additional resources to access including those for survivors of sexual violence. UBC values respect for the person and ideas of all members of the academic community. Harassment and discrimination are not tolerated nor is suppression of academic freedom. UBC provides appropriate accommodation for students with disabilities and for religious, spiritual and cultural observances. UBC values academic honesty and students ae expected to acknowledge the ideas generated by others and to uphold the highest academic standards in all of their actions. Details of the policies and how to access support are available here.