Voice/Data Network Fundamentals
TDC 425
Voice/Data Network Fundamentals
Summer I 2011
Instructor:Dr. C.M. White
Loop office: 715 CDM
Loop phone: (312) 362-5175
Fax: (312) 362-6116
Web page: http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/cwhite
Office hours: One hour before class
Course Breakdown:
2 exams 25% each
7 homeworks7 - 8% each
Assignments are due at the beginning of class and may lose up to 10% each day late. All assignments will be graded and returned one class period from the day it was due. Late homework assignments will not be accepted after that point – no exceptions!
Assignments may be handed in electronically if desired. You may send the homework as an email or as an email attachment in text, Word, Excel, pdf, etc. format. Please be sure that the file name ends with the appropriate type. For example, Word files end with .doc. Shortly after receipt of the emailed homework, I will respond with an email acknowledgment. If you do not receive an acknowledgment within 24 hours (48 on the weekend), you may have to resend. The CDM email system records every email received, sent, and deleted. This feature will help should an assignment come up missing. As a safety precaution, it is usually a good idea to also print a hardcopy of all assignments in case everything else fails. If possible, do not send zipped files.
Recommended textbook: Data Communications and Computer Networks: A Business Users Approach, White, Course Technology
List of alternative textbooks (in case you do not want to purchase the White book):
Business Data Communications, Stallings and Van Slyke, Prentice Hall
Business Data Communications and Networking, Panko, Prentice Hall
Business Data Communications and Networking, Fitzgerald and Dennis, John Wiley & Sons
Business Data Communications, Stamper, Addison-Wesley
Grading Scale:
92 - 100A
90 - 91A-
88 - 89B+
82 - 87B
80 - 81B-
78 - 79C+
72 - 77C
70 - 71C-
68 - 69D+
60 - 67D
0 - 59F
Objectives of course:
By the end of the quarter, you will be able to:
1. Outline the history of telecommunications and deregulation: This includes the history of the invention of the telephone up through the early days of the Bell system and the continuing governmental regulations. Includes Modified Final Judgment and Telecommunications Act of 1996.
2. Enumerate the various transmission media commonly used in carrier systems, i.e. coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, microwave radio, as well as the carrier systems overall operating characteristics.
3. Recognize the basics of data communications, including data, signals, conversions between data and signals, encoding techniques, multiplexing, compression, and modems.
4. Delineate the integration of voice technologies with data technologies.
5. Identify the basics of T-carrier systems, frame relay, asynchronous transfer mode, DSL, and cable modems, and be able to compare and contrast their characteristics.
6. Describe the basic operating procedures of wide area networks and the Internet and how they relate to the business world.
7. Document the characteristics of local area networks, including wired and wireless topologies.
8. Complete a case study in which, given a minimum set of requirements, you will recommend wide area network solutions.
9. Recognize the basic concepts of network security and their effects on commercial transactions.
Approximate schedule:
ClassTopicsReadings
1Introduction to communication systems 1 Hmwk 1 assigned
Fundamentals of data and signals 2
2Finish fundamentals of data and signals Hmwk 1 due
The media - conducted and wireless 3 Hmwk 2 assigned
3Interfacing 4 Hmwk 2 due
Multiplexing and compression 5 Hmwk 3 assigned
4Errors 6Hmwk 3 due
Local area networks 7,8Hmwk 4 assigned
5Local area networks continued 7,8 Hmwk 4 due
Hmwk 5 assigned
6Midterm exam
7Wide and metro area networks 9Hmwk 5 due
The Internet 10Hmwk 6 assigned
8Voice and data delivery systems 11 Hmwk 6 due
Hmwk 7 assigned
9Security 12Hmwk 7 due
Network design 13
10Final exam
As a courtesy to the other students and the instructor, students with cell phones are asked to either turn them off or turn off the ringer.
If this is an evening class, there will be a break approximately half way through class. Thus, it would be appreciated if you could wait for that break and not walk in and out in the middle of a lecture.
Please keep an eye on the class web page (http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/cwhite) for the latest updates and information about this course.
All of the slides used during lecture are available on the course web site. A hard copy of the first lecture will be handed out in class. All future hard copies are your responsibility. To print them, I suggest printing three slides to a page (to save paper). To do this in PowerPoint 2000, click on File / Print / Print what: Handouts / Slides per page: 3. You may also want to white out the background using Format / Background / change the color to white / Apply to All.
While attendance is not mandatory, it is highly recommended. Despite the fact that all slides are on the course web page, they can be terse at times. Details given during lecture can fill in many missing pieces and aid in understanding of the more difficult concepts. Attendance will be taken on a regular basis and may be used during final grade determination.
Distance Learning students – All assignments and lecture notes are posted on the instructor’s web site (http://facweb.cs.depaul.edu/cwhite). Please email all assignments back to the instructor at on or before the day the assignment is due. You may also use the Dropbox feature of D2L at http://d2l.depaul.edu. All lectures can be viewed using the Course OnLine system at http://col.cdm.depaul.edu. Do not use Course OnLine to deliver homework assignments.