Today's network infrastructure is a vast organization of network components (routers, switches, etc) connected using several different approaches (electronic over wires, optical over optical fibers or through free space, wireless RF through free space). The types of network connections extend across a wide range of performances, from low data rate networks such as DSL through ultra-high speed connections such as backbone wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks. A typical end-to-end connection traverses a variety of different types of networks as data moves from the source end to the remote destination of the connection, presenting compelling requirements for interoperability among the different types of networks. Such interoperability is provided through carefully developed standards, applied to all aspects of networks including signals moving across links, hardware to send and receive data streams, standards for operational protocols, etc.
Looking at the overall network infrastructure as a system, one clearly sees what has been called technically a "complex system." In the understanding of networked systems, this course will emphasize the system-level issues while avoiding the considerable technical detail appearing in any of the physical or operational (protocol) components. In this sense, we will seek an understanding using the familiar "top-down" approach widely used for developing and understanding complex systems. The textbook Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach by J.F. Kurose and K.W. Ross has been adopted to provide this "top-down" understanding.
At the same time, the operation of the network depends critically on several technical details. Lacking an understanding of the important technical details would leave us in the position of having only a shallow appreciation of the overall system. Understanding of the technical details normally is achieved via the "bottom-up" engineering approach (build a small unit, combine them to make a bigger unit, then combine these to make an even biger unit, etc.). The second textbook, Computer Networks and Internets by Douglas E. Comer, has been adopted to provide this "bottom-up" understanding.
Although obviously a challenge for a single semester course, we will seek to draw upon these different viewpoints to establish a technical understanding of network operation. As the course proceeds, you will likely find that the solutions to providing capabilities in networked systems follow relatively simple underlying principles, supported with details that make sense. This is our objective - to be able to understand the basic operational principles of this complex networked system environment on which we so greatly depend.