72521 - Internet Routing and Trasport: Protocols and Performance

Academic Year 2023/2024

  • Docente: Walter Cerroni
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: ING-INF/03
  • Language: Italian

Course contents

Introduction to performance evaluation in Communication and Computer Networks

TELETRAFFIC ENGINEERING

  • Introduction to teletraffic engineering and queuing systems.
  • Markov chains and birth-death processes.
  • Markovian queuing systems and the Erlang formulas.
  • Application to analysis, dimensioning and planning of circuit and packet switched networks.

END-TO-END CONTROL AND TRANSPORT LAYER PROTOCOLS

  • Overview of the TCP protocol.
  • TCP flow and congestion control: the AIMD concept.
  • Mathematical models to estimate the throughput of a TCP connection.

VIRTUALIZATION AND SOFTWARE DEFINED NETWORKS

  • Principles of network "softwarization."
  • Separation of the control plane and the data plane.
  • Issues related to virtualization of network functions.

Readings/Bibliography

For contents related to teletraffic engineering:

  • F. Callegati, W. Cerroni, C. Raffaelli, "Traffic Engineering: A Practical Approach", Springer, 2023, ISBN: 978-3-031-09588-7

For contents related to TCP:

  • K. R. Fall, W. R. Stevens, "TCP/IP Illustrated, Vol. 1"x\, 2nd edition, Addison-Wesley, 2012, ISBN: 978-0-321-33631-6
  • J. F. Kurose, K. W. Ross, "Reti di calcolatori e Internet. Un approccio top-down", 8a edizione, Pearson, 2022, ISBN: 978-88-9191-600-6

Teaching methods

Lectures and practical exercises in the classroom.

Case studies will be illustrated related to real-life examples of application of the course concepts.

Assessment methods

The final exam is based on a written test on queuing systems and TCP protocol performance evaluation. Each student will be asked to solve three exercises of the same type as those presented in class and available as handouts. The duration of the written test is between two and two and a half hours, depending on the difficulty of the exercises proposed. Students will not be allowed to consult textbooks, notes or other material during the test.

Teaching tools

In case of possible practical exercises, open-source software tools will be used for traffic analysis and performance evaluation.

Office hours

See the website of Walter Cerroni

SDGs

Industry, innovation and infrastructure

This teaching activity contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals of the UN 2030 Agenda.