From the Internet to the IoT: Fundamental of Modern Computer Networking

The 21th century is, if anything, becoming a data-driven century. Interaction with everyday objects may yield a wealth of information, especially when correlated: if in an apartment the fridge door is being opened and closed regularly, then presumably apartment is inhabited ; if a drinking glass is subsequently emptied, presumably the inhabitant is alive and well, and, is staying both fresh and hydrated ; if the BBQ or the oven is used frequently, perhaps the inhabitant is either overeating (and so, a potential customer for diet plans) or is entertaining frequently (and so, a a potential customer for party supplies) — something which analysing the usage patterns of the door bell would reveal…

A premise for being able to analyse usage patterns and interactions is, of course, that these physical actions are captured and transformed into data — and, that these data are communicated from everyday objects with and through the Internet, and to the cloud.

And so, the 21th century is necessarily also the connected century: smartphones, watches, fridges, toothbrushes, drinking glasses, coffee machines, medical implants, BBQs, office plants, and forks are all becoming connected objects, generating data — and thus, becoming part of the Internet.

Outside of the consumer market, knowing the state of a machine, of an airplane engine, or of a power substation, permits scheduling predictive maintenance and avoid accidents — embedded sensors able to capture, and communicate, this state is a necessary premise.

As a matter of fact, a company launching a product today that doesn't "run an app" and "connects to the Internet" is a company, which just hasn't grasped the needs (or, at least, the desires) of its market - much as the guy installing the bike rack on the left, clearly misunderstood his "target market".

In order to ensure that YOU do not end up being that gal/guy, building a product miserably missing the market, this course provides you with the core competencies, necessary for developing connected systems.

This course is self-contained: it assumes some programming skills, and a lot of curiosity — and will introduce the rest as it goes along. Each lesson will consist of a lecture, followed by 2h of lab (TD). This course is calibrated so that a student should expect to spend 1-2h/week outside of class, reviewing material and/or finishing exercises.

Requirements:

A good dose of curiosity is required.
(Having followed INF321 or INF311+411 probably won’t hurt)

Evaluation mechanism:

Weekly submissions (either of homework, or of quizzes) worth 50% of the final grade, and a final exam QCM worth the other 50% of the grade.

**Language: **

English (with, at least, bilingual teaching staff)

This course has as objectives:

• To offer pragmatic and practical approach to communicating systems and to computer networking

• To understand, for each of the four major functional layers in a protocol stack (data-link, internetwork, transport, and application) the fundamental ideas, algorithms, and architectural principles, that apply “from the Internet, and to the IoT”

• To acquire the principles behind TCP/IP Networking

• To become familiar with modern Internet and IoT protocols: from IPv6 to 6LoWPAN, from ALOHA through Ethernet and WiFi to LoRa and Bluetooth — and from the WEB and REST to CORE And CoAP

• To acquire practical experience in developing networked applications, and in developing and implementing protocols.

In short, this course provides an in-depth understanding of “how the net works” (pun intended), and gives the necessary baggage for an engineer (regardless of area of exercise) to be able to design communicating systems.

Form: Final exam, weekly quizzes, grade assignments.
Location/format: online
Re-sit possibility: yes
Transcript available: end of academic year
Add. info/requirements: Internet access & a computer is required.