About

Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach, 6e

The subject of computer networking is enormously complex, involving many concepts, protocols, and technologies that are woven together in an intricate manner. To cope with this scope and complexity, many computer networking texts are organized around the “layers” of a network architecture. With a layered organization, students can see through the complexity of computer networking—they learn about the distinct concepts and protocols in one part of the architecture while seeing the big picture of how all parts fit together.

Our book broke new ground 12 years ago by treating networking in a top-down manner—that is, by beginning at the application layer and working its way down toward the physical layer. The feedback we received from teachers and students alike have confirmed that this top-down approach has many advantages and does indeed work well pedagogically. First, it places emphasis on the application layer (a “high growth area” in networking). Second,  teaching networking applications near the beginning of the course is a powerful motivational tool. Students are thrilled to learn about how networking applications work—applications such as e-mail and the Web, which most students use on a daily basis. Once a student understands the applications, the student can then understand the network services needed to support these applications. The student can then, in turn, examine the various ways in which such services might be provided and implemented in the lower layers. Third, it enables instructors to introduce network application development at an early stage. Students not only see how popular applications and protocols work, but also learn how easy it is to create their own network applications and application-level protocols. 

Although we dropped the phrase “Featuring the Internet” from the title of this book with the fourth edition, this doesn’t mean that we dropped our focus on the Internet! We continue to use the Internet’s architecture and protocols as primary vehicles for studying fundamental computer networking concepts. Of course, we also include concepts and protocols from other network architectures. But the spotlight is clearly on the Internet, a fact reflected in our organizing the book around the Internet’s five-layer architecture.

Our textbook also stresses underlying networking principles. The combination of using the Internet to get the student’s foot in the door and then emphasizing fundamental issues and solution approaches will allow the student to quickly understand just about any networking technology.

Each new copy of this textbook includes six months of access to a Companion Web site for all book readers at http://www.pearsonhighered.com/kurose-ross. The companion web site includes many important pedagogical features including, Java applets, interactive quizes, video notes, interactive exercises, retired sections from previous editions, programming assignments, and Wireshark labs.

 

Jim Kurose

Jim Kurose is a Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Dr. Kurose has received a number of recognitions for his educational activities including Outstanding Teacher Awards from the National Technological University (eight times), the University of Massachusetts, and the Northeast Association of Graduate Schools. He received the IEEE Taylor
Booth Education Medal and was recognized for his leadership of Massachusetts’ Commonwealth Information Technology Initiative. He has been the recipient of a GE Fellowship, an IBM Faculty Development Award, and a Lilly Teaching Fellowship.

Dr. Kurose is a former Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Communications and of IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking. He has been active in the program committees for IEEE Infocom, ACM SIGCOMM, ACM Internet Measurement Conference, and ACM SIGMETRICS for a number of years and has served as Technical Program Co-Chair for those conferences. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the ACM. His research interests include network protocols and architecture, network measurement, sensor networks, multimedia communication, and modeling and performance evaluation. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Columbia University.

Keith Ross

Keith Ross is the Leonard J. Shustek Chair Professor and Head of the Computer Science Department at Polytechnic Institute of NYU. Before joining NYU-Poly in 2003, he was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania (13 years) and a professor at Eurecom Institute (5 years). He received a B.S.E.E from Tufts University, a M.S.E.E. from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in Computer and Control Engineering from The University of Michigan. Keith Ross is also the founder and original CEO of Wimba, which develops online multimedia applications for e-learning and was acquired by Blackboard in 2010.

Professor Ross’s research interests are in security and privacy, social networks, peer-to-peer networking, Internet measurement, video streaming, content distribution networks, and stochastic modeling. He is an IEEE Fellow, recipient of the Infocom 2009 Best Paper Award, and recipient of 2011 and 2008 Best Paper Awards for Multimedia Communications (awarded by IEEE Communications Society). He has served on numerous journal editorial boards and conference program committees, including IEEE/ACM Transactions on Networking, ACM SIGCOMM, ACM CoNext, and ACM Internet Measurement Conference. He also has served as an advisor to the Federal Trade Commission on P2P file sharing.