Course coordinator
Associate Professor Dan Kim
Course overview
- Study period
- Semester 1, 2025 (24/02/2025 - 21/06/2025)
- Study level
- Undergraduate
- Location
- St Lucia
- Attendance mode
- In Person
- Units
- 2
- Administrative campus
- St Lucia
- Coordinating unit
- Elec Engineering & Comp Science School
OSI and Internet reference models. Communication protocols for Local, Metropolitan and Wide Area Networks. BISDN networks. The Internet protocol suite. Mobile Networks. Quality of service in communication protocols. Network security. Trends in communication networks.
COMS3200 is a course on computer networks that focusses on the communication protocols, architectures and applicationsﾠof the Internet.
The course is based on the Internet protocol stack and works through the layers of the protocol sequentially.
Firstly, fundamental principles and metrics for computer networking are described, and the overall architecture of the Internet is described.
The application layer looks at protocols such as HTTP, DNS, and SMTP.
The transport layer looks at UDP and TCP, including congestion control.
The network layer looks at IPv4, IPv6, and routing algorithms and protocols.
The Link Layer looks at Ethernet, Link Layer Addressing, and ARP.
The physical layer is not considered in detail.
Aspects of cyber-security will also be covered.
Course requirements
Assumed background
Students are expected to have basic knowledge of computer architecture and Python or C programming skills. Some previous programming experience is essential.
Material from COMP2303/CSSE2310 is assumed - it is strongly recommended that students review the content of that course, especially the networking component.
ﾠ
Prerequisites
You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:
COMP2303 OR CSSE2310
Incompatible
You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:
COMS7201
Course contact
Course staff
Lecturer
Associate Professor Dan Kim
Associate Professor Peter Sutton
Timetable
The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.
Additional timetable information
Note that lab contact (CON) classes start in WEEK 2.
Students should use Allocate+ to sign-on to one CON class.
Aims and outcomes
The course equips students with a good understanding of computer network architectures and protocols.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course you should be able to:
LO1.
Describe the layered architecture of the Internet and be able to explain, analyse and compare important protocols and features
LO2.
Evaluate the performance of various network architectures and protocols
LO3.
Simulate the behaviour of key network protocols and algorithms (e.g. routing algorithms)
LO4.
Design and develop computer networking protocols/applications
LO5.
Analyse computer network traffic using a network protocol analyser tool
LO6.
Identify and explain security issues in computer networking.
Assessment
Assessment summary
| Category | Assessment task | Weight | Due date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Quiz |
Quizzes
|
10% |
4/03/2025 10:00 am 14/03/2025 10:00 am 18/03/2025 10:00 am 25/03/2025 10:00 am 1/04/2025 10:00 am 8/04/2025 10:00 am 15/04/2025 10:00 am 29/04/2025 10:00 am 6/05/2025 10:00 am 13/05/2025 10:00 am 20/05/2025 10:00 am 27/05/2025 10:00 am |
| Computer Code, Quiz |
Assignment
|
35% |
9/05/2025 3:00 pm |
| Examination |
Final Exam
|
55% |
End of Semester Exam Period 7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025 |
A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.
Assessment details
Quizzes
- Online
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Quiz
- Weight
- 10%
- Due date
4/03/2025 10:00 am
14/03/2025 10:00 am
18/03/2025 10:00 am
25/03/2025 10:00 am
1/04/2025 10:00 am
8/04/2025 10:00 am
15/04/2025 10:00 am
29/04/2025 10:00 am
6/05/2025 10:00 am
13/05/2025 10:00 am
20/05/2025 10:00 am
27/05/2025 10:00 am
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L05, L06
Task description
Weekly online quizzes will be due at 10am every Tuesday*, starting from week 2. 12 quizzes will be made available in total. Quizzes will open at least 4-5 days prior to the due time.
*(with the exception of Week 3)
Quizzes will usually cover topics from the previous week or two of classes, but may cover topics from any previous week and/or may require students to do some research or reading beyond the class notes. Students are expected to take the quiz individually and on their own time and these weekly quizzes are designed to keep students up to date with the week by week teaching material. Each quiz must be explicitly submitted by the due date (i.e. quizzes are not auto-submitted).
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation tools are permitted to be used in the quizzes but they are not required to be used and not recommended to be used as they may inhibit learning.
Submission guidelines
Quizzes will be undertaken through Blackboard.
Deferral or extension
You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.
The best 10 quizzes will be considered towards final grade, each worth 1%. If a student misses more than two quizzes due to exceptional circumstances (supported by documentation) then they may seek an exemption from the third (and subsequent) missed quizzes. If N such exemptions are granted, the student's result will be calculated using their best 10-N quiz results, weighted 1% each, with the final exam weight being increased by N%. Exemptions must be requested as an extension with a note specifying exemption via my.UQ.
Late submission
You will receive a mark of 0 if this assessment is submitted late.
Assignment
- Hurdle
- Online
- Mode
- Product/ Artefact/ Multimedia, Written
- Category
- Computer Code, Quiz
- Weight
- 35%
- Due date
9/05/2025 3:00 pm
- Learning outcomes
- L04, L05
Task description
The assignment will consist of the following parts:
- Some questions for Wireshark exercises
- A programming assignment.
Referencing and Use of AI
Note that the assignment is to be worked on individually and must be your own work except where the use of code written or provided by other entities (teaching staff, Linux man pages, AI tools, etc.) is explicitly permitted by the assignment specification. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are permitted to be used in this assignment but they are not required to be used and not recommended to be used as they may inhibit learning and introduce bugs into your code. You must always follow the referencing requirements set out in the assignment specification and documents referenced from the assignment specification. Failure to appropriately reference the resources (tools and information sources) used in your work may result in misconduct allegations against you. You are encouraged to discuss the concepts behind the assignment but under no circumstances should you show your code to, or allow your code to be seen by, another student. You should not look at the code of any other student. You must sufficiently protect all electronic and paper copies of your code. All submitted code will be subject to electronic plagiarism and collusion detection. Assignments with no academic merit will be awarded a mark of zero. You may have to verbally answer questions about your submission as part of the assignment marking process.ﾠ
Programming Assignment Interviews
Teaching staff will conduct interviews with a subset of students about their submissions for the purpose of establishing genuine authorship. If you write your own code, you have nothing to fear from this process. If you legitimately use permitted code from other sources (following the usage/referencing requirements in the assignment specification) then you are expected to understand that code. If you are not able to adequately explain the design of your solution and/or adequately explain your submitted code and/or be able to make simple modifications to your solution as requested at the interview, then your assignment mark will be scaled down based on the level of understanding you are able to demonstrate and/or your submission may be subject to a misconduct investigation where your interview responses form part of the evidence. Interview invitations will be issued by email to your student email account at any time up until the end of week one of the exam period. Failure to respond to an interview invitation by the deadline stated in the invitation (which will be at least one week after the invitation is sent) or failure to attend a scheduled interview will result in zero marks for the assignment unless exceptional circumstances can be demonstrated with supporting evidence.
Hurdle requirements
Students must gain at least 60% on the assignment to receive a grade of 5. Students must gain at least 70% on the assignment to receive a grade of 6. Students must gain at least 80% on the assignment to receive a grade of 7.Submission guidelines
The assignment must be submitted via the link on Blackboard. Students should keep a copy of their assignment submission. The required submission procedure for the assignment will be detailed on the handout for that assessment item. Students will have to state that the submission is their original work when submitting their assignments.
Deferral or extension
You may be able to apply for an extension.
The maximum extension allowed is 14 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.
Late submission
A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.
Final Exam
- Hurdle
- Identity Verified
- In-person
- Mode
- Written
- Category
- Examination
- Weight
- 55%
- Due date
End of Semester Exam Period
7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025
- Other conditions
- Time limited.
- Learning outcomes
- L01, L02, L03, L05, L06
Task description
The exam will be an invigilated on-campus exam. This exam will be closed-book and will contain a combination of problem-solving and short/long answer questions. AI and Machine Translation tools may not be used.
Hurdle requirements
Students must gain at least 60% on the final exam to receive a grade of 5. Students must gain at least 70% on the final exam to receive a grade of 6. Students must gain at least 80% on the final exam to receive a grade of 7.Exam details
| Planning time | 10 minutes |
|---|---|
| Duration | 120 minutes |
| Calculator options | (In person) Casio FX82 series only or UQ approved and labelled calculator |
| Open/closed book | Closed Book examination - no written materials permitted |
| Materials | None. |
| Exam platform | Paper based |
| Invigilation | Invigilated in person |
Submission guidelines
Deferral or extension
You may be able to defer this exam.
Course grading
Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| 1 (Low Fail) |
Absence of evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Overall mark is in the range of 1-19%. |
| 2 (Fail) |
Minimal evidence of achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Overall mark is in the range of 20-46%. |
| 3 (Marginal Fail) |
Demonstrated evidence of developing achievement of course learning outcomes Course grade description: Overall mark is in the range of 47% or higher AND the requirements for a higher grade are not met. |
| 4 (Pass) |
Demonstrated evidence of functional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Overall mark is 50% or higher AND the final exam mark is 40% or higher AND the requirements for a higher grade are not met. |
| 5 (Credit) |
Demonstrated evidence of proficient achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Overall mark is 65% or higher AND the final exam mark is 60% or higher AND the assignment mark is 60% or higher AND the requirements for a higher grade are not met. |
| 6 (Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of advanced achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Overall mark is 75% or higher AND the final exam mark is 70% or higher AND the assignment mark is 70% or higher AND the requirements for a higher grade are not met. |
| 7 (High Distinction) |
Demonstrated evidence of exceptional achievement of course learning outcomes. Course grade description: Overall mark is in the range of 85-100% AND the final exam mark is 80% or higher and the assignment mark is 80% or higher. |
Additional course grading information
Individual fractional weighted scores for each assessment item will be summed to a final percentage out of 100%.ﾠ
The final total percentage will be rounded to the nearest integer before calculating the final grade.
To pass the course, students must gain at least 40% on the final exam.
For grades 5/6/7 students need to obtain minimum percentages on the exam, and on the assignment as listed above.
Examination and assignment marks are NOT rounded prior to checking the hurdles above.
Supplementary assessment
Supplementary assessment is available for this course.
Additional assessment information
Moderation
In accordance with the Assessment Procedure, marks may be moderated and grade cutoffs may be lowered if academically justified.
Having Troubles?
If you are having difficulties with any aspect of the course material, you should seek help and speak to the course teaching staff. If external circumstances are affecting your ability to work on the course, you should seek help as soon as possible. The University and UQ Union have organisations and staff who are able to help; for example, UQ Student Services are able to help with study and exam skills, tertiary learning skills, writing skills, financial assistance, personal issues, and disability services (among other things). Complaints and criticisms should be directed in the first instance to the course coordinator. If you are not satisfied with the outcome, you may bring the matter to the attention of the School of EECS Director of Teaching and Learning.
Learning resources
You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.
Library resources
Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.
Learning activities
The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.
Filter activity type by
Please select
| Learning period | Activity type | Topic |
|---|---|---|
Multiple weeks From Week 1 To Week 13 |
Lecture |
Lecture Contents for each week are on the teaching plan on Blackboard. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06 |
Multiple weeks From Week 2 To Week 13 |
General contact hours |
Weekly contacts/pracs They are weekly "wireshark" exercises, contacts for lecture content, and for assistance on the assignment. Learning outcomes: L01, L02, L03, L04, L05, L06 |
Policies and procedures
University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:
- Student Code of Conduct Policy
- Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
- Assessment Procedure
- Examinations Procedure
- Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure
Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.
School guidelines
Your school has additional guidelines you'll need to follow for this course: