- Introduction -
The role of data
communications and evolution of telecommunications and computer
networks. The fundamental issues of transmission rate, response time,
reliability, security, architecture, networking. Standards and layered
architectures: the OSI model and TCP/IP.
- Data, Signals and
Information
Transmission - Binary and m-ary data.
Analog and digital
signals, frequency and wavelength, Fourier analysis, bandwidth and data
rates, impairments. Encoding information. Capacity formulas: Nyquist
and Shannon. Voice, data and video signal examples.
- Transmission Media
- The
characteristics of twisted pair, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic media
for signal transmission. Wireless media: microwave, satellite,
and cellular. Capacity and cost.
- Coding and Modulation
-
Digital signal formats. Amplitude, frequency and phase modulation of
carrier signals; modems.
- Digital Voice
and Image (Multimedia)
-
The sampling theorem and analog to digital conversion. Basic PCM voice
and digital video, codecs and compression.
- Physical-Layer Interfaces -
Synchronous vs. asynchronous, and balanced vs. unbalanced transmission.
Interfacing standards: e.g., EIA-232, USB, Ethernet and
Wi-Fi.
- Error Control Strategies - Error
rates. Reliable transmission over unreliable
links. Error-detection and error-correction schemes, combined
strategies.
- Link-Layer Protocols -
Acknowledgments,
flow control and error control. Delay and sliding windows. Link-layer
protocols: HDLC, SLIP and PPP.
- Multiplexing -
Sharing communication
media: time, frequency and code-division multiplexing. Statistical
multiplexing and queuing models for capacity and delay on shared links.
- Introduction To
Networking -
Networking resources and strategies. LANs vs. wide area networks.
Packet vs. circuit switching. Principles of LANs and the
Internet.
- Report -
Students are expected to prepare
and present a paper describing an application or technology for data
communication.
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