Specific readings by topic
| Reading | Topics | Action Items |
|---|---|---|
|
Introduction to Networking & Decimal, Binary, Octal and Hexadecimal numbers |
Read Introduction to Networking (take note of any terms you aren't familiar with and ask about them on the forum) Watch the Kahn Academy video on Binary Numbers Read the Learning About Computers Binary Tutorial (which also covers Hexadecimal) Use Kerry Veenstra's dynamic page on Binary and Hex to play around with Binary Read about Decimal, Binary, Octal, and Hexadecimal in the TCP guide. Read about Boolean and Logical Functions in the TCP guide. Watch Vi Hart's Binary Hand Dance (optional, but your instructor finds it charming)
|
Familiarize yourself with the TCP/IP guide and how to navigate it.
Post your name, a short introduction to yourself, and your favorite website to our webforum.
Become comfortable with Binary and Hexadecimal and check your understanding here (Binary), here (Hex), and here (Bitwise AND).
Lab 1 will help you with Binary, Hex, and Bitwise ANDs. |
|
Quantization, Sampling, Digitizing |
Wikipedia on Quantization, Wikipedia on Sampling, Wikipedia on Sampling Rate, and Wikipedia on Nyquists's Theorem (everything past the first two paragraphs on Nyquist's Theorem is too advanced for this class's subject matter).--> |
Work on Lab 2 to solidify your understanding of sampling and quantization. Lab 6 deals, in part, with parity checking. |
|
Data Link Layer
(Layer 2) |
Our book still doesn't have that much on things at the low level, so we will continue to rely on lecture and Wikipedia.
|
Lab 3 will help you understand MAC addresses and the Ethernet protocol. Lab 4 will help you with wireless networks and Ethernet bridges. Lab 5 will help with collision domains and cellphone bands. |
|
Internet Layer (Layer 3) |
Our book becomes useful around now, but it has far more nuts and bolts than we need to worry about.
|
Lab 7, Lab 8, and Lab 9 will help you understand IP (IPv4 specifically) addresses
|
|
Transport Layer (Layer 4) |
|
|
|
Network Security |
Lab 10 and Lab 11 will help you with Public Key Encryption |