DSE 6610 Computer Networks & the Internet
3rd Trimester, 2002

Computer networks, as the name implies, provide communication links between computers for data exchange. Data exchange was initially limited to text and digital images in ASCII-coded form. Most of these exchanges are realized using the Internet or other proprietary networks. As data exchanges were visualized with browsers supporting HTML, data is now expected to be in any native forms (e.g., Word document) targeted for specific applications, or in a machine-interpretable form for processing and interchange. As the technology for wired communication continues its direction to link up individuals and corporations, the push for a truly anywhere anytime communication is becoming urgent and its reality may not be too distant in the future. In this class, we will study the Internet, from its history, its technical structure, to its many popular facets, especially the ubiquitous World Wide Web. Our discussion will mainly stay within the context of e-commerce and e-business. We will then shift our focus to wireless communication and information security.