UCCS CS 5220 Computer Communication

Fall 2026; M/W 4:45 PM - 6:00 PM (001); Cybersecurity A-107

General Information

Instructor

Dr. Xi Tan
E-mail: xtan4@uccs.edu
Homepage: https://mintancy.github.io/
Office hours: M/W 3:15 PM - 4:30 PM or by appointment. Student hours can be held in person, or via Teams.
Loc: Cybersecurity Center, 120J

Teaching Assistant

TBD
E-mail: TBD
Office hours: TBD

Overview

CS 5220 covers fundamental computer networking concepts and principles, guiding students to apply networking theory and design principles, verify their understandings, and build a solid foundation for creating innovations in today's Internet. This course lays foundations of network architectures, protocol design principles, and TCP/IP programming skills necessary for advanced graduate study and technical training in industry. In addition to core networking topics, this course integrates network security perspectives throughout, examining vulnerabilities and attack surfaces at each layer of the protocol stack. Students will gain hands-on experience through security labs.

Tentative Schedule

Date Topic Presentations Notes
Week-1 Class-1 8/24 Introduction NA Check paper presentation assignments (Papers List, Presentation Schedule).
Week-1 Class-2 8/26 Application Layer I (chap 2) NA
Week-2 Class-1 8/31 Application Layer II (chap 2) NA
Week-2 Class-2 9/02 Application Layer III (chap 2) NA Presentation Selection Due (Papers List)
Week-3 Class-1 9/07 === Labor Day Observed No class === NA
Week-3 Class-2 9/09 Application Layer Security NA HW-1 Release
Week-4 Class-1 9/14 Transport Layer I (chap 3) NA
Week-4 Class-2 9/16 Transport Layer II (chap 3) NA
Week-5 Class-1 9/21 Transport Layer III (chap 3) NA SEED Lab 1: DNS Local Attack Due (Details)
Week-5 Class-2 9/23 Transport Layer IV (chap 3) NA
Week-6 Class-1 9/28 Transport Layer V (chap 3) NA HW-2 Release
Week-6 Class-2 9/30 Transport Layer Security NA
Week-7 Class-1 10/05 Network Data Plane I (chap 4) NA
Week-7 Class-2 10/07 Network Data Plane II (chap 4) NA
Week-8 Class-1 10/12 Network Data Plane III (chap 4) NA SEED Lab 2: TCP Attacks Due (Details)
Week-8 Class-2 10/14 *** Midterm Review *** NA
Week-9 Class-1 10/19 *** Midterm Exam *** NA
Week-9 Class-2 10/21 Network Control Plane I (chap 5) NA
Week-10 Class-1 10/26 Network Control Plane II (chap 5) NA
Week-10 Class-2 10/28 Network Control Plane III (chap 5) NA
Week-11 Class-1 11/02 Network Layer Security NA HW-3 Release
Week-11 Class-2 11/04 Presentations
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
Week-12 Class-1 11/09 Link Layer and LANs I (chap 6) NA
Week-12 Class-2 11/11 Presentations
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
SEED Lab 3: BGP Exploration and Attack Due (Details)
Week-13 Class-1 11/16 Link Layer and LANs II (chap 6) NA
Week-13 Class-2 11/18 Link Layer and LANs III (chap 6) NA
Week-14 Class-1 11/23 === Fall Break No class === NA
Week-14 Class-2 11/25 === Fall Break No class === NA
Week-15 Class-1 11/30 Link Layer Security
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
HW-4 Release
Week-15 Class-2 12/02 Physical Layer I (chap 7), Presentations
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
  • TBD. Presenter: TBD
Week-16 Class-1 12/07 Physical Layer II (chap 7) NA SEED Lab 4: ARP Cache Poisoning Due (Details)
Week-16 Class-2 12/09 *** Final Exam Review *** NA
Final Exam 12/16 *** Final Exam *** NA 5:20 PM - 7:20 PM, Cybersecurity A-107

Resources

Required textbook: Additional resources:

Course Structure

We will have
  1. Lectures with network security topics interspersed at each protocol layer.
  2. Four non-grade homework assignments but five pop-up quizzes.
  3. One paper presentation: Papers List.
  4. Four SEED security labs from SEED Labs:
    • SEED Lab 1: DNS Local Attack (Details).
    • SEED Lab 2: TCP Attacks (Details).
    • SEED Lab 3: BGP Exploration and Attack (Details).
    • SEED Lab 4: ARP Cache Poisoning (Details).

SEED Lab Environment Setup

SEED Labs require a virtual machine environment. Students are responsible for setting up the SEED VM on their own computers. Please follow the setup instructions at SEED Lab Setup. Basic Linux command-line proficiency is expected.

All materials will be updated to Canvas later.

Disclaimer

  • All information in this syllabus is subject to change at the discretion of the instructor.
  • Much of the resources were borrowed from Prof. Xiaobo "Charles" Zhou and Jim Kurose, partial of the copyright belongs to Pearson Education, Inc.
  • SEED Labs: SEED Network Security Labs, developed by Prof. Wenliang Du.