BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani

Pilani Campus
AUGS/AGSR Division

SECOND SEMESTER 2025-2026

Course Handout (Part II)
Date: 6 Jan 2026

In addition to Part-I (General handout for all courses appended to the timetable) this portion gives
further specific details regarding the course.

COURSE NO. : CS F303

COURSE TITLE : COMPUTER NETWORKS
INSTRUCTOR-IN-CHARGE : VIRENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT
E-mail: vsshekhawat@[Link]
Instructor(s) : Yash Shina
E-mail: [Link]@[Link]
Lab Instructors : Vishnu Chaitanya (E-mail: p20240488)
: Devika S (E-mail: p20210024)
: Harshvardhan Nirban (E-mail: p20230097)
Course page: [Link]

Scope and Objectives:

This course will show you the applications, communications protocols, and network services that make a
computer network work. We will closely follow the top-down approach to computer networking as given in
the textbook, enabling you to understand the most visible part, i.e., the applications, and then see, progressively,
how each layer is supported by the next layer down. Most of the time, our example network will be the Internet.
Also, a module on wireless and mobile networks will be covered as, currently, users access the Internet from
offices, from homes, while on the move, and from public places wirelessly. There will be laboratory sessions
to provide practical skills using a network protocol analyzer tool (Wireshark) and TCP/IP socket
programming.
TEXT BOOKS
[T1] James F. Kurose, and Keith W. Ross: Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the
Internet, Eighth Edition, Pearson Education, India, 2022.
[T2] L. Peterson and B. Davie, Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Fifth Edition, Elsevier, 2012

REFERENCE BOOKS
[R1] Behrouz A. Forouzan & Firouz Mosharraf, Computer Networks - A Top Down Approach, First Edition,
McGraw Hill, New Delhi, 2017.
[R2] Douglas E. Comer: Hands-on Networking, Pearson, New Delhi, 2015.
[R3] W. R. Stevens, UNIX Network Programming, Vol I, Networking APIs: Sockets and XTI, Pearson
Education, 3rd Edition.

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 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani
Pilani Campus
AUGS/AGSR Division

Module Topics Learning Objectives

No.
Internet Architecture and Computer  To know about elements of computer
Network Primitives: Overview of computer networks
M1 network building blocks, Internet architecture,  To understand the Internet design
protocol layers philosophy and its layered architecture.
Network Applications (Application Layer):  To understand the working of various
Principles of network applications (e.g., network applications
M2 HTTP, FTP, e-mail, P2P, DNS etc.), Creating  To learn the network application
network applications using socket implementation process using socket
programming programming.
End to End Data Transfer (Transport  To understand an end-to-end data transfer
Layer): Data transport services: mechanism used in the Internet.
Connectionless (UDP), Connection oriented  To understand congestion control and
M3 (TCP), Reliable data transfer protocol design, resource allocation principles used on the
Congestion control and resource allocation Internet an end-to-end basis.
principles, TCP congestion control  To understand reliable data transfer between
Algorithms, and performance measurement, two end points in the networks.
Congestion based Congestion control using
BBR
Data Routing and Forwarding (Network  To understand how to assign addresses to
Layer): IP addressing (IPv4 and IPv6) for the communicating nodes in the IP network
host and network devices, Network  To understand IP addressing mechanism to
M4 segmentation using subnets, IP Routing segregate a network into multiple
algorithms and protocols to move datagrams subnetworks for scalability
in the Internet (One to one, One to all, One to  To understand data routing and forwarding
many) mechanisms used in the Internet
Access Networks & LANs (Link Layer):  To understand how data moves from one
Hop by Hop data transmission using link layer hop to another hop between two end points.
frames, Multiple access links and protocols:  To learn about local area network design
M5 Point-to-Point and Broadcast link (LANs), and performance issues.
Node addressing in switched LANs  To understand different channel access
(Ethernet), Link Virtualization (MPLS) protocols.
Wireless and Mobile Networks: Wireless  To understand wireless network access in IP
links and network characteristics, Wi-Fi networks.
M6 (802.11) networks, Node mobility  To understand the challenges faced by IP
management in wireless networks (Mobile IP) network due to mobile nodes.

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 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani
Pilani Campus
AUGS/AGSR Division

PLAN OF STUDY
Lect. Topics References
No.
M1: Internet Architecture and Computer Network Primitives
1-3 Internet Architecture, Network Hardware: The Network Edge, The Network Core, T1: 1.1 – 1.5
ISPs and Internet Backbones, Delay, Loss, and Throughput in Packet Switched
Networks, Protocol Layers and their Service Models (TCP/IP)
M2: Network Applications (Application Layer)
4-6 Principles of Network Applications, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): T1: 2.1 – 2.3
Persistent vs. Non-persistent connections, Cookies, Web Caching, HTTP/1.0 and
HTTP/2.0, File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
7-8 Mail Transfer Protocols (SMTP, POP3, IMAP), The Internet Directory: Domain T1: 2.4 – 2.5
Name System (DNS), DNS services, DNS Records and Messages
9-10 Peer to Peer (P2P) File distribution: BitTorrent, Distributed Hash Tables (DHTs) T1: 2.6
M3: End-to-End Data Transfer (Transport Layer)
11-13 Transport layer services: Connection-oriented vs. Connectionless, Multiplexing, T1: 3.1 – 3.4
De-multiplexing, UDP, Principles of Reliable Data Transfer (Go-Back-N, and
Selective Repeat).
14-15 Introduction to Socket Programming; TCP, UDP, Creating simple Client Server T1: 2.7
Applications
16-20 Connection-oriented transport using TCP: TCP connection management, RTT T1: 3.5 – 3.7
Estimation and Retransmission Timeout, TCP Flow Control. TCP Error Control
and Congestion control algorithms (Slow start, Congestion avoidance, Fast
Recovery, Fast Retransmit), TCP Fairness, BBR Congestion Control, QUIC
Protocol
M4: Data Routing and Forwarding (Network Layer)
21-25 Virtual Circuits Networks vs. Datagram Networks, Internal Architecture of Router, T1: 4.1 – 4.3
Forwarding and Addressing in the Internet (IP). IPv4 Addressing, Network Address
Translation (NAT), Internet Control Management Protocol (ICMP), IPv6
Addressing, Queuing/Packet Scheduling Algorithms: First Come First Serve
(FCFS), Fair Queuing (FQ), Weighted Fair Queuing (WFQ), Random Early
Detection (RED)
26-28 Routing Algorithms: Shortest Path Routing, Flooding, Link State, Distance Vector, T1: 5.1 – 5.3
and Hierarchical Routing. Routing in the Internet: Intra-domain routing (RIP,
OSPF)
29-30 Inter-domain routing (BGP): Advertising BGP Route Information, Routing Policy, T1: 5.4, 5.6,
BGP Attributes 5.7
31 The Software Defined Control Plane (SDN): SDN Controller, OpenFlow protocol, T1: 5.5
Data and Control Plane Interaction

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 BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, Pilani
Pilani Campus
AUGS/AGSR Division

M5: Access Networks & LANs (Link Layer)

32-33 Link Layer Services, Error Detection and Correction Techniques: Parity Checks, T1: 6.1 – 6.2
Checksums, CRC).
34-36 Multiple Access Protocol: TDM, FDM, Slotted ALOHA, Pure ALOHA, CSMA, T1: 6.3
CSMA/CD
37-39 Local Area Networks, Link Layer addressing: MAC addresses, Address Resolution T1: 6.4 – 6.5
Protocol (ARP), Domain Host Control Protocol (DHCP), Ethernet, Link Layer
switches, Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs), Link Virtualization
M6: Wireless and Mobile Networks
40-41 Wireless Links and Network Characteristics, Wi-Fi: 802.11 Wireless LAN T1: 7.3, 7.5
Architecture and Protocol, Mobility management: addressing and routing, Mobile
IP.

EVALUATION SCHEME

S. No. Component Duration Weightage Date and Time Nature of

component
1. Quiz 1.0 hrs 12% To be announced in the Class Close Book
2. Mid Semester 1.5 hrs 25% 09-03-2026 (2:00 PM- 3:30 PM) Close Book
Exam
3. Lab Exam 2.5 hrs 19.5% To be announced in the Class Open Book
4. Lab Participation -- 03.5% -- Open Book
4. Comprehensive 3.0 hrs 40% 04-05-2026 (8:00 AM – 11:00 Close Book
Exam AM)

Notices: All notices will be posted on the NALANDA LMS.

Makeup Policy: In genuine cases, on a case-by-case basis, makeup shall be allowed. Prior permission from
the Instructor-In-charge is a must.
Lab Sessions: The lab sessions will focus on socket programming in C language and analyzing network
protocols using Wireshark packet analyzer.
Chamber (6111-C @IT Services Office) Consultation Hour: Monday 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Instructor-In-Charge
CS F303

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