Spring 2026
ENSC 427: COMMUNICATION NETWORKS

TOPICS WEEK IN REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS EXAMS TEXTBOOKS

SCHEDULE STAFF PROJECTS TOOLS WEB SITES INFO

Current count of email messages related to ENSC 427 exchanged this term: 69.
Course description: This course covers the techniques needed to understand and analyze modern data communications networks using a top-down, layered approach to computer networking. It covers the basic architecture of packet networks and their network elements and the protocols used to enable transmission of packets. This is a project oriented undergraduate course. Students will be introduced to various tools for simulating communication networks such as ns-3. Laboratory work is included in this course.

Pre-requisites: Successful completion of ENSC 327-3 or permission of the instructor.
Note: ENSC Undergraduate Curriculum Committee (UCC) does not permit enrollment in ENSC 427 if you have not successfully completed ENSC 327.

TOPICS:
  • 1. Computer Networks and the Internet
  • 2. Application Layer
  • 3. Transport Layer
  • 4. The Network Layer: Data Plane
  • 5. The Network Layer: Control Plane
  • 6. The Link Layer and LANs
  • 7. Wireless and Mobile Networks
  • 8. Security in Computer Networks
    WEEK IN REVIEW:
  • 1. January 5, 2026
  • 2. January 12, 2026
  • 3. January 19, 2026
    ASSIGNMENTS:
    Posted weekly by Friday. Due by the following week on Sunday (firm deadline).
  • Assignment #1
  • Assignment #2
  • Assignment #3

    GRADING SCHEMES:
  • Assignment #1
  • Assignment #2
  • Assignment #3
    EXAMS:

    MIDTERM EXAMS:
    Wednesday, February 11, 2026, 16:30 - 18:20, AQ 3153
    Monday, March 30, 2026, 16:30 - 18:20, AQ 3153

    FINAL EXAM:
    TBA

    FAS policy on mid-terms and finals is described in Section 5.7 of the FAS Handbook
    Academic honesty and plagiarism

    PROJECT REPORTS AND PRESENTATIONS:

  • Project teams are due January 11, 2026 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
  • Project proposal(s) are due January 25, 2026 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
  • Project title, abstract, and a list of five references are due February 8, 2026 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
  • Web page describing your project and including the list of five references is due February 15, 2026 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
  • Interim report is due March 1, 2026 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute).
  • Project class presentations will be held in class on April 7, 2026.
  • The following files are due on Friday, April 17, 2026 (midnight: 11:59 PM + 1 minute):
    • Presentation slides (Power Point and PDF files) of your final project,
    • URL for the web pages of your final project, and
    • Final written report (LaTEX or MS Word file and PDF file) of your final project.

    The final project grading policy
    The final project grading form
    GRADING:
    Assignments 20%, Midterm exam 1 10%, Midterm exam 2 10%, Final exam 25%, project class presentation 10%, and final project report 25%.
    Your assignment scores and midterm exam 1, midterm exam 2, final exam, and overall scores distribution charts will be posted here.

    Average letter to grade mapping (tentative):
    Standard SFU grade system

    RESOURCES: Conflict resolution
    TEXTBOOKS:

    Recommended reading:
  • J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, Computer Networking, A Top-Down Approach, 9th Edition, Pearson, 2026.
         J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, Instructor resources, Computer Networking, A Top-Down Approach, 9th Edition, Pearson, 2026.
         J. F. Kurose and K. W. Ross, Interactive end-of-chapter exercises, Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, 8th edition.
  • A. Leon-Garcia and I. Widjaja, Communication Networks: Fundamental Concepts and Key Architectures, 2nd edition, McGraw-Hill, 2004. Errata page.

    Other sources (in alphabetical order)
  • D. Bertsekas and R. Gallager, Data Networks, Second edition, Prentice Hall, 1992.
  • M. De Prycker, Asynchronous Transfer Mode: Solutions for Broadband ISDN, Ellis Horwood, 1991.
  • I. Katzela, Modeling and Simulating Communication Networks, A Hands-on Approach Using OPNET, Prentice Hall, 1999.
  • S. Keshav, Engineering Approach to Computer Networking: ATM Networks, the Internet, and the Telephone Network, Addison Wesley, 1997.
  • L. L. Peterson and B. Davie, Computer Networks, A Systems Approach, 5th edition, Morgan Kaufmann, 2012.
  • T. G. Robertazzi, Computer Networks and Systems, Queuing Theory and Performance Evaluation, Third edition, Springer Verlag, 2000.
  • J. Walrand and P. Varaiya, High-performance Communication Networks, 2/e, Elsevier, 2000.
  • J. Walrand, Communication Networks, A First Course, 2/e, McGraw-Hill, 1998.

    • JOURNALS:
  • IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials
  • IEEE Communications Magazine
  • IEEE Network, The magazine of global information exchange
  • ACM Computer Communication Review
  • IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications
  • IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking
    SCHEDULE:
    Lectures:
    Monday 16:30 - 18:20, AQ 3153
    Wednesday 16:30 - 18:20, AQ 3153

    Tutorials:
    Wednesday 17:30 - 18:20, AQ 3153

    PROFESSOR:
    TEACHING ASSISTANTS:
    • Anahita Araghi
      aaraghi at sfu.ca
      Office hours:
      Monday, 13:30 pm - 14:30 pm, ASB 10868
      Friday, 14:00 pm - 15:0O pm, ASB 10868
      Zoom link provided in Canvas.

    • Feng Ding
      fda17 at sfu.ca
      Office hours:
      Wednesday, 13:30 pm - 14:30 pm, ASB 10868
      Thursday, 14:00 pm - 15:00 pm, ASB 10868
      Zoom link provided in Canvas.

    COMPUTING HELP:
    PROJECTS:
    ENSC 427 Spring 2026 project teams
    ENSC 427 Spring 2026 project proposals
    ENSC 427 Spring 2026 projects

    Instructions for in class presentations of your ENSC 427 final projects
    Instructions for writing ENSC 427 final project reports

    IEEE Author Center:
       IEEE Author Tools
       Create your IEEE Article
       IEEE Editorial Style Manual

    Past course web pages are located at: http://www.ensc.sfu.ca/~ljilja/teaching.html

    SOFTWARE TOOLS:
  • Get familiar with Linux/CentOS. The following sites have links to useful Unix tutorials and documentation:
        http://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-unix-commands-cheat-sheets.html
        http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Keyboard-and-Console-HOWTO.html
        http://wiki.centos.org/HowTo
  • To run ns-3 on a PC running MS operating system, download:
        Option 1 (easier): Downlaod Ubuntu virtual machine VirtualBox in order to run the virtual machine.
        Option 2: cygwin
  • ns-3 website, ns-3 tutorial, ns-3 documentation, and ns-3 wiki page
  • Ptolemy
  • Omnet++
  • S-PLUS for Unix
  • Wireshark network protocol analyzer
  • Quagga Routing Suite
  • GNU Zebra: Free routing software
    TRAFFIC TRACES:
    Various sites with collected traffic traces
    FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)
    Email messages with hints and answers to some frequently asked questions.
    (Check FAQ pages from prior ENSC 427 offerings for useful hints.)
    FAQ in 2026
    WEB SITES OF INTEREST:
  • Communication Networks Laboratory
  • Research with OPNET at SFU
  • Previous offerings of ENSC 427, ENSC 833, ENSC 835, ENSC 894, and ENSC 895
    Acronyms:
  • Dictionary of Acronyms in Communications and Informatics (DACI)
  • http://www.csrstds.com/acro-a-d.html
    General references:
  • What is page
    Documents:
    Internet Requests for Comments (RFC) site:
  • IETF
    Daily news of interest:
  • Wired News: DoS: Defense Is the Best Offense
    Fun things:
  • RFC 1121
  • RFC 1149
  • RFC 2100
  • UC Berkeley EECS20: Structure and Interpretation of Signals and Systems
    INFO:
    TOPICS WEEK IN REVIEW ASSIGNMENTS EXAMS TEXTBOOKS

    SCHEDULE STAFF PROJECTS TOOLS WEB SITES INFO

    Created by
    Ljiljana Trajkovic
    ljilja at cs.sfu.ca
    Last modified: Fri 9 Jan 2026 21:44:20 PST.