For courses in Networking/Communications.
Motivate your students with a top-down, layered approach to computer networking
Unique among computer networking texts, the Seventh Edition of the popular Computer Networking: A Top Down Approach builds on the author’s long tradition of teaching this complex subject through a layered approach in a “top-down manner.” The text works its way from the application layer down toward the physical layer, motivating students by exposing them to important concepts early in their study of networking. Focusing on the Internet and the fundamentally important issues of networking, this text provides an excellent foundation for students in computer science and electrical engineering, without requiring extensive knowledge of programming or mathematics. The Seventh Edition has been updated to reflect the most important and exciting recent advances in networking.

1. UPDATED!Chapters have been re-organized for the first time since the text’s original publication. The network layer, which had been previously covered in a single chapter, is now covered in Chapter 4 (which focuses on the so-called “data plane” component of the network layer) and Chapter 5 (which focuses on the network layer’s “control plane”). This expanded coverage of the network layer reflects the swift rise in importance of software-defined networking (SDN), arguably the most important and exciting advance in networking in decades.
2. UPDATED! Individual chapters have been updated to reflect changes in the field of computer networkinG.
3. REVISED! Significant new material involving end-of-chapter problems has been added. As with all previous editions, homework problems have been revised, added, and removed.
4. A balanced presentation focuses on the Internet as a specific motivating example of a network and also introduces students to protocols in a more theoretical context.
5. A chapter on wireless and mobility includes insight into 802.11 and coverage of ad hoc networking.
6. Principles and Practice boxes throughout demonstrate real-world applications of the principles studied.
7. Case History boxes are sprinkled in to help tell the story of the history and development of computer networking.
8. Material on application programming development is included, along with numerous programming assignments.
9. A highly developed art program enhances the descriptions of concepts.