Spring 2027

Communication Networks

Communication Networks focuses on performance analysis, protocol functions like routing and flow control, layer standards, and wireless/mobile networks.

no offering record for this termCredits unavailable
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 No instructors listed

Summary

1 / 7

Past student reviews · Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau

The workload was perceived as demanding, with the instructor working just as hard as students during the semester. The difficulty level was rated as moderate.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Identify the components of present-day communication networks

  • Characterize the components and the corresponding functions of Internet infrastructure

  • Determine how information is transferred from one end to the other reliably and efficiently and re-create the same

  • Analyze and evaluate the underlying algorithms and protocols in a communication network

Source: UW Guide

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

COMP SCI 300, graduate/professional standing, or member of Engineering Guest Students

    • COMPSCI 300
    • graduate/professional standing
    • member of Engineering Guest Students
    take one
ECE 537

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • Any of
    • COMPSCI 300
    • graduate/professional standing
    • member of Engineering Guest Students

Professors

Spring 2027

No instructors recorded for this selection.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections.

Meeting source records
Download part 1

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau

Students found the course engaging, with an instructor who was funny, approachable, and knowledgeable. Exams were described as interestingly themed, contributing to a positive learning experience.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.75 GPA, 90.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.88 GPA, 95.0% A/AB (n=20 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.92 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=36 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau

The workload was perceived as demanding, with the instructor working just as hard as students during the semester. The difficulty level was rated as moderate.

Past student reviews · Remzi Arpaci-Dusseau

The instructor was considered easy to talk to and dedicated, creating a supportive environment. Students appreciated the effort to make exams less monotonous through creative themes.

Topics

  • Protocol functions including addressing, multiplexing, routing, forwarding, flow control, error control, and congestion response.
  • Transport, network, and link layer protocol standards.
  • Wireless and mobile networks.

Skills

  • Identifying communication network components and characterizing Internet infrastructure functions.
  • Determining reliable information transfer methods and analyzing network algorithms and protocols.

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1316 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Download part 1
Selected offering source records

No offering records for the selected term.

Raw records 
[]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
Download part 1
Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "197242eb400c904d5abe50e281b8ce4fa7d71fd945e917f6c391ba10d3ded497",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}