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Communications and Networks

Note: Whilst every effort is made to keep the syllabus and assessment records correct for this course, the precise details must be checked with the lecturer(s).

Code:	6007 (Also taught as: GC15, GA07)
Year:	3
Prerequisites:	Students should have some familiarity with the basic components of computers (processor, memory etc.). Normally they should have completed a programming course.
Term:	2
Taught By:	Soren Sorensen (50%) Graham Knight (50%)
Aims:	To introduce the techniques used to transfer all types of data (including continuous media such as voice) in the local and wide areas. To introduce the basic operation of the Internet
Learning Outcomes:	Students should understand the "packet-switching" approach to communication and should appreciate the characteristics of the various transmission and networking technologies and the main factors which affect their performance. They should understand the naming, addressing and routing techniques used in the Internet together with the operations of typical applications.

Content:

Channels and channel capacity	Bandwidth and noise. Channel capacity; Nyquist, Shannon. Characteristics of copper, radio-spectrum and optical fibre media.
Transmitting digital information	Information and entropy. Encoding. Optimal encoding. Baseband encoding. Introduction to modulation. Spread-spectrum techniques. Framing and transparency.
Sharing network resources	Telecommunications history. Circuit-switching and packet-switching. Multiplexing techniques. Virtual circuit and datagram technologies.
Sharing the medium	Contention-based algorithms, token-passing algorithms, code-based algorithms.
Dealing with errors	Error detection and correction. ARQ protocols. Flow control.
Security issues	Confidentiality, integrity and authentication. Symmetric and asymmetric algorithms.
Introduction to Queuing Theory	Derivation and use of simple M/M/1 results.
Integration and APIs	Services, protocols and programatic interfaces to communications services.
Example technologies	LAN example: IEEE802.11 (WiFi) WAN example: ATM and ADSL
Local interconnection	IEEE MAC service. Bridges, switches. VLANs.
The Internet Architecture	The IP protocol (V4 and v6). Routers and forwarding. Fragmentation and reassembly. IP v4 and v6 addressing. DNS
End-to-end communication in the Internet	TCP: basic operation. TCP: congestion control. UDP. Use of ports.
Internet Deployment	Global Internet Architecture, autonomous systems. Routing in the Internet: Dynamic routing, BGP Implementing IP over LAN and ATM. NAT and VPNs. Mobile IP. Quality of Service requirements. Implementation approaches, DIFFSERV.
Application architecture	Client/server. Peer-to-peer. User-level sessions. Application services and protocols. Abstract and concrete syntaxes.
Application example	WWW: scaling problems, cacheing, content delivery networks.

Method of Instruction:

Lecture presentations with associated class problems.

Assessment:

The course has the following assessment components:

Coursework Section (8 pieces, 10%)
Written Examination (2.5 hours, 90%)

To pass this course, students must:

Obtain an overall pass mark of 40% for all sections combined

The examination rubric is:
Answer THREE questions out of FIVE. All questions carry equal marks.

Resources:

"Computer Networks: A Systems Approach, Fourth Edition" - Peterson and Davie, Morgan Kaufmann; ISBN-13: 978-0123705488

"Data and Computer Communications (8th Edition) - William Stallings, Prentice Hall; ISBN-13: 978-0132433105

This page last modified: 26 May, 2010 by Nicola Alexander