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Syllabus

 Course Overview

This course focuses mainly on the theoretical and practical aspects of computer communications. Communication Theory, Communication Trends, Emerging and Traditional Communication Applications, Internet Infrastructure, Communication and Network Security, Cloud Computing Applications, Wireless and Mobile Communications and Computer Networks will be some of the major topics covered in this course.  The theoretical concepts of computer communications will form an important and integral part of the course. It will be supplemented by practical examples in the application of computer communications and networking.

 

The first half of the quarter will focus on the theoretical concepts. Communications protocols and standards such as the TCP/IP protocol will feature prominently during this time. The second half of the quarter will mostly be concerned with the application of computer communications. It would include demonstrations and hands-on lab sessions that would explore both wired and wireless communications using the Windows operating system. In addition, both the theory and application of secured communication will be covered with a demonstration of the configuration of a firewall. The emerging technology of Cloud Computing will also be explored during the quarter. 

 

  Outcome

 
The students completing this course would become familiar with the:
  • basic theory of computer communications
  • communication technologies such as, for instance, packet switching and circuit switching
  • ISO/OSI model and the TCP/IP protocol which, incidentally, is the primary transport and internetworking protocol of the Internet
  • basic hardware and software used in communications such as DSL Modems and FTP software respectively
  • Internet infrastructure and the standards and technologies used in the functioning of the Internet 
  • functional and physical network architectures such as the client-server functional architecture and the star physical architecture
  • configuration of a peer-to-peer network to understand the concept of sharing resources on a network
  • wireless communication technolgies and applications 
  • concept of secured communications
  • emerging technologies in computer communications

 Weekly Plan

The weekly plan for the topics to be covered in the lectures, demonstrations and hands-on exercises are as follows: 
   
 Week                      Lecture Topic                                      Lab Assignment
 1 Introduction to Communications and Communication Trends None
 2 Principles of Analog and Digital Communications None
 3 Data Communication Concepts None
 4 ISO/OSI Model and the Fundamentals of TCP/IP None
 5 TCP/IP Applications Configuring Host file; Remote computing with FTP and Telnet; Remote website management; TCP/IP command line processing.
 6 Communication Hardware and Internet Infrastructure Communication media demonstration.
 7 LAN Theory Demonstrations of the following: Network hardware, Windows resource sharing and thin-client computing. 
 8 Peer-to-Peer and Wireless Networking Network client configuration; Testing and troubleshooting client connectivity; Exploring the network; File and printer sharing and wireless networking.  
 9 Security and Reliability Demonstration of VPN, firewall configuration (switching, network address translation and DHCP features) and wireless communications.
 10 Project Presentations Presentations
 10 Cloud Computing Applications Bonus Lecture
 11 Final Examination  

 

 Assessment and Assignment of Letter Grade

The cumulative score on which the letter grades are based for the course will be computed based on the weights assigned to the individual components as follows:  
 
Examination   Contribution
 Midterm 1  20%
 Midterm 2  25%
 Final  40%
 Project  15%
 Total  100%
 
Note that there will be three examinations conducted made up of two mid-term examinations and a final examination. In addition, each student is required to participate in a group project. The percentage contribution from each component of the assessment criteria is provided only as a guideline. The actual percentages may vary marginally from the stated values depending on the number of questions given in the examinations and the emphasis placed on the class project. 
 
The letter grade will be assigned based on a curve representing the cumulative score distribution of the students in the class.
 
 
 Examinations
 
Students are required to carry a valid student ID with them at all times both during regular class meetings and during examinations.  
 
Midterm Examinations 

The two mid-term examinations will be held on the fourth and seventh weeks respectively. For the night classes, the examination will begin at 8:00 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. For the classes that meet twice a week during the day time, the examinations will be held on the second class meeting of the fourth and seventh weeks respectively. In this case, the examination will commence at the beginning of the class meeting and cover the entire duration of the class.

The test will be composed primarily of multiple-choice questions. The number of questions will be between 75 and 125 depending on the material covered prior to the examination. In each examination, the focus will be on material covered from the time of the last examination. Two Scantrons are therefore recommended for the examination. Both the mid-term examinations are closed-book examinations with the exception of a cheat-sheet allowed during the course of each examination for use as a reference.
 
Final Examination

The final examination will be held on the date and time printed on the Class Schedule. The duration is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Emphasis will be placed on the material covered after the last mid-term examination. The examination may also include an essay component in addition to the section containing multiple-choice questions. The number of multiple-choice questions will be in the neighborhood of 100 to 125, again depending on the material covered during the period following the second examination.  

Two Scantrons are therefore required for the final examination. The number of essay questions, if present, will vary between 2 and 4. The final examination will also be a closed-book examination with the exception of a cheat-sheet allowed during the course of the examination for use as a reference. 

Examinations are not cumulative in their coverage.
    
Examination Schedule 
 
Examination   Week  Time  Coverage
 Midterm 1  4th 2nd class meeting for day classes and from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for night classes  Weeks 1-3
 Midterm 2  7th 2nd class meeting for day classes and from 8:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. for night classes  Weeks 4-6
 Final  11th  As printed in the schedule  Weeks 7-10
 

Policy on Make-up Examination

A make-up examination will not be conducted except under extreme and compelling conditions of personal distress.
 
Unfortunate circumstances relating to you or to an immediate family member may be considered only with appropriate documentation. Excuses will not be accepted during the week immediately preceding the midterm or final examinations. Any request for the assignment of an incomplete grade during this period will automatically be rejected.
 
In the extreme event that a make-up examination is conducted, the penalties assigned due to the delay in conducting the examination will be as follows:
  
Examination  Delay  Penalty
 1 Week  15%
 2 or more Weeks   25%

No examination will be conducted prior to the scheduled examination dates. There will not be a make-up examination conducted for the final examination.
  

 Project
 
The students will form groups of three or four students and carry out a class project. The project may explore new technologies in communications or experiment with the actual implementation of a particular communication application. The project requirements are described in detail under the web page entitled Project.  Also, the names of the students in each group and their email addresses are listed in the Project page along with the project topic chosen by each group.  
  
 
 Delivery of Instruction
   
The delivery of instruction will partly be based on a DVD containing multimedia instructional modules produced by the instructor. It contains multimedia lectures and demonstrations. The DVD will be distributed free of charge to the students in the class. The students are required to return the DVD immediately after they make one legal copy for their personal use.
 
This evolving website will also play an important role in the dissemination of course related information.
  
 References
 
The primary reference for this course will be the course material contained in this website and the DVD based instructional material that would be provided to the students. 
 
The textbook also contains useful information on the material covered in the course. The websites hosted by computer magazines and companies involved with communications and networking are recommended as supplementary references. Examples in this case include websites hosted by CISCO, Microsoft and Windows Networking.
  
  
 Textbook

Raymond Panko, Business Data Networks and Telecommunications, Seventh Edition, Prentice Hall, ISBN: 0-13-035914-9.

  
 Summary
 
Electronic Delivery of Instruction
  • Information about the course will largely be disseminated through this website
  • Course slides for each week of lecture are available on this website for downloading 
  • The DVD produced by the instructor that contain the multimedia modules will be used as important teaching material
  • The DVDs will be distributed in the class to the students free of charge and they should be returned to the instructor immediately after making one legal copy for personal use by the student
  • Students are required to bring a headphone with a volume control to each class meeting
  • A USB flash disk with a minimum of 512M Bytes of storage space is recommended for downloading newer multimedia lecture modules
  • Duration of class meetings may be reduced by an appropriate time period to facilitate Technology Mediated Learning (TML)
Examinations and Grading
  • The cumulative grade is composed of individual grades from the three examinations and the project work
  • The letter grade is assigned based on a curve representing the distribution of the cumulative score
  • The two midterm examinations will be held on the 4th and 7th weeks of the quarter respectively
  • The final examination will be held on the date and time printed in the class schedule
  • A cheat-sheet is allowed for both the mid-term and the final examinations
  • A make-up examination is not normally offered
Class Project
  • A group project is to be completed where the end result would be a group presentation and the submission of the presentation slides in electronic form
  • Project presentations are scheduled for the ninth and tenth weeks of the quarter 
  • The presentation slides are to be submitted immediately after the in-class presentation
  • The report is to be submitted on CD containing the PowerPoint slides or made available on a flash disk to be downloaded to the instructor's flash disk
  • The site addresses of all the websites referenced in the project must be included in the report and the references used in the presentation must all be clearly acknowledged on the slides
 
(c) Nanda Ganesan, Ph.D. All rights reserved.