Réseaux, information et communications

Information Theory:

1. Coding theory: block codes & instantaneous codes, Kraft's & McMillan's inequalities

2. Random source: quantity of information and entropy, optimal codes (Shannon-Fano code, Huffman codes)

3. Lossless Compression: extensions of a source, Shannon's Noiseless Coding Theorem, LZW method & adaptative codes (FGK, Vitter)

4. Noisely Channel: cross, conditionnal et mutual information ; associated entropies, essential properties, channel capacity

5. Binary Symmetric Channel: reliability, information rate, Shannon's Fundamental Noisy Channel Theorem

6. Error-Correcting Codes: Hamming distance & fundamental inequalities

7. Linear Codes: generator & parity check matrix, canonical form, syndrome decoding, Reed-Müller codes, perfect codes (Hamming codes, Golay codes), polynomial codes, cyclic codes (BCH codes), MDS codes (Reed-Solomon codes)

Network Theory:

1. Internet architecture: network edge/core/access, protocol layers, history.

2. Application layer: web and HTTP, DNS, socket programming.

3. Transport layer: (de)multiplexing, connectionless transport (UDP), reliable data transfer, connection-oriented transport (TCP), congestion control.

4. Network layer: virtual circuit and datagram networks, router architecture, Internet Protocol (IP), addressing and forwarding, routing algorithms (RIP, OSPF, BGP).

5. Link layer and Local Area Networks: Error detection, multiple access protocols (Aloha, CSMA/CD, Ethernet), addressing, hubs/switches, transparent bridges, spanning tree protocol.

At the end of the course students will understand well the principles of computer networks, their layered architectures (OSI and TCP/IP models), the fundamental mechanisms governing the protocols in various layers, and some examples of existing protocols.

Cours co-requis

Cours ayant celui-ci comme co-requis

Course + problem solving lessons

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Information Theory:

Jiří Adámek, Foundations of Coding, John Wiley, 1991

Richard W. Hamming, Coding and Information Theory, Prentice-Hall, 1980

Other on-line reference through Virtual University Web site

Network Theory:

James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross. Computer Networking - A Top-Down Approach (Sixth Edition), Addison-Wesley, 2012. A cheaper and identical edition is published by Pearson Education (ISBN 978-0-273-76896-8), 2013.

Slides: http://www.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/~leduc/cours/reseaux.html

Contacts

Guy Leduc : http://www.run.montefiore.ulg.ac.be/People/GuyLeduc/index.php

Christophe Petit : http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~chripeti/index.html

Campus

Plaine

Method(s) of evaluation

• Practice work
• written examination

Practice work

written examination

Information theory part : written exam with open books. Duration: 1h30.
Network part : written exam, closed books. duration: 2h30.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

• TInformation theory : 25% 
• Network theory : 55%
• Network labs : 20%
• In August, same weighting, except when network labs are worse than network exam, in which case the lab mark is discarded and the network exam mark is weighted at 75%.

Language(s) of evaluation

• french