CS ATLAS A map of computing

Domain 06 —

Computer Networks

6 topics1961 — 1989
1961Packet Switching & ARPANET1971Wireless & Mobile Networks1973Ethernet & LAN1974TCP/IP1983DNS & Domain Names1989World Wide Web & HTTP

Chronology — 29 entries

Chronology

Every milestone in this domain, ordered by date. An event shared by several topics is counted once.

1961Kleinrock's packet-switching paperQueueing theory applied to packet networks.Packet Switching & ARPANET
1964Baran's distributed networkNetworks designed for survivability.Packet Switching & ARPANET
1969ARPANET's first four nodesThe ancestor of the Internet.Packet Switching & ARPANET
1971Electronic mailThe first killer application.Packet Switching & ARPANET
1971ALOHAnetA pioneer of random access over radio.Wireless & Mobile Networks
1973Metcalfe designs EthernetCSMA/CD on a shared bus.Ethernet & LAN
1974Cerf and Kahn propose TCPThe core protocol for internetworking.TCP/IP
1978TCP and IP splitThe layered design settles.TCP/IP
1980The DIX standardThree companies agree on one specification.Ethernet & LAN
1981RFC 791 / 793The formal specifications of IP and TCP.TCP/IP
1983IEEE 802.3The international standard.Ethernet & LAN
1983ARPANET switches to TCP/IPThe Internet's birthday.TCP/IP
1983The DNS specificationMockapetris designs hierarchical naming.DNS & Domain Names
1984Root servers deployedThirteen root server addresses.DNS & Domain Names
1988Congestion controlVan Jacobson keeps the network from collapsing.TCP/IP
1989Berners-Lee's proposalThe starting point of the Web.World Wide Web & HTTP
1990Switched EthernetCollision domains disappear.Ethernet & LAN
1991GSM goes commercialThe digital cellular standard.Wireless & Mobile Networks
1991The first websiteOnline at CERN.World Wide Web & HTTP
1993The Mosaic browserInline images bring the Web to everyone.World Wide Web & HTTP
1996HTTP/1.0Standardised.World Wide Web & HTTP
1997IEEE 802.11Wi-Fi is born.Wireless & Mobile Networks
1998ICANN is foundedThe body for names and addresses.DNS & Domain Names
200010 Gigabit and the datacentreEthernet moves into the backbone.Ethernet & LAN
20094G LTEMobile broadband.Wireless & Mobile Networks
2015HTTP/2Multiplexing and header compression.World Wide Web & HTTP
2016The IANA transitionRoot-zone management becomes multistakeholder.DNS & Domain Names
20195G goes commercialLow latency and massive IoT.Wireless & Mobile Networks
2022HTTP/3 and QUICA new transport built on UDP.World Wide Web & HTTP

Curriculum

Courses and labs

Which university courses this domain usually maps to, and whether the practical work is a standalone project course or an in-class lab.

In-class labs + a project

Most schools run in-class labs (packet capture plus socket programming); a few offer a project course that writes TCP from scratch.

Courses

Computer NetworksNetwork Programming (elective)

Open courses

  • Stanford CS 144 Introduction to Computer Networking
  • Berkeley CS 168 Introduction to the Internet

What the labs look like

  • Wireshark capture analysis

    Walk one HTTP / DNS / TCP exchange layer by layer and attribute every field

  • TCP stack

    Stanford CS 144: byte stream → receiver → sender → router, four labs

  • Socket programming

    Build a small HTTP server, a chat room or a proxy