UMUC-EUROPE GRADUATE PROGRAMS
BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY

INSS538 Syllabus

Course Title Data Communications Systems Networks
Term TERM 2, 2003/2004
Education Center DIST-ED_EUROPE_GRAD
Faculty Member Manfred Trostmann - mtrostma@faculty.ed.umuc.edu

Faculty Contact Information:

Lecturer: Manfred Trostmann
Phone 06171 78194 or +491715496690
Mail trostmann@rz.uni-frankfurt.de

Consultation:

The lecturer is available for consultation one hour before class starts

Required Texts and Readings:

White, C.(2002). Data Communications and Computer Networks: A Business User's Approach (2nd ed.). Boston:  Thompson Course Technology.

Supplementary Readings:

The standard for papers in the graduate program is the APA style. All participants in this course and all graduate INSS, MGMT, PUAD, and ECON courses should have a copy of the style guide:
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th Edition. Washington DC: Author.All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.umuc.edu/library/.  The library contains a large number of full text academic journals that are free of charge and immediately available.  The library homepage also contains a number of links related to improving students' research and writing skills.

Recommended Journals:

Publications of the various professional societies (such as ACM -- the Association for Computing Machinery, the IEEE Computing Society, and the various management professional societies) are strongly recommended.  In addition, there are many trade journals (such as eWEEK) that MIS professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on-line.

Course Description:

3 semester hours credit.  Prerequisites: Either INSS 510, INSS 520, or permission of the Program Director. Provides analysis of data communications technology and its application within the public and private sector enterprise.  Gives an in-depth view of the communications environment, data communications and telecommunications equipment, and local and wide area networks.  The student is involved in case studies of communications systems design in educational, industrial, governmental, and military environments.

Course Goals:

Upon completion of the course, participants should:
1. Understand the different network topologies, and their advantages and disadvantages.
2. Understand issues involved in network security and data integrity.
3. Understand the strengths and limitations of the Internet.
4. Discuss the roles of IT professionals in network design and maintenance.
5. Be able to research current topics in networking.

Course Objectives:

At the conclusion of this course the student will be able to:
1. Discuss the evolution of networks and the Internet
2. Explain the hierarchical, layered structure of a typical network architecture
3. Describe emerging network technologies and assess their capabilities, limitations, and near-term potential
4. Discuss important network standards in their historical context
5. Describe the responsibilities of the layers of the ISO reference model
6. Explain how a network can detect and correct transmission errors
7. Illustrate how a packet is routed over the Internet
8. Discuss the fundamental ideas of public-key cryptography
9. Summarize common authentication protocols
10. Summarize the capabilities and limitations of the means of cryptography that are currently available
11. Explain the different roles and responsibilities of clients and servers for a range of possible applications.

Grading Information:

Grades for this course will be based on:
Mini Cases 15%
Midterm 20%
Project 30%
Final 35%

and will be assigned as follows:
 
    A     93%
    B     84 – 92%
    C     73 – 83%
    F     Below 73%
 
Please note that Bowie State University does not use "D" for graduate students. The grade F(a) is used to designate academic failure. F(n) is used to designate failure for non-completion.  Grades of Incomplete or Withdrawal are governed by UMUC-Europe policies. For further details, please refer to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog, available in your local Education Center or online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs.
 

Course Requirements:

Graduate school at the masters level focuses on helping students obtain the education needed for success as professionals in their chosen fields. Thus, UMUC-Europe Graduate Programs and Bowie State University share the common goals of promoting excellence in academic scholarship through thoughtful inquiry and the skillful application of knowledge and theory for the betterment of society.
 

Description of Course Requirements:

Participate in classroom discussions: You are expected to come to class prepared to engage in all discussions in a professional and informed manner. Usually this requires two to three hours for every hour of a face-to-face class and approximately ten hours of preparation per week for a DE class.
 
Complete graduate level projects or programming assignments, write graduate level papers or case studies:  You are required to conduct professional-level research, including appropriately citing works of others and avoiding plagiarism. Plan on committing approximately 150 hours over the duration of this course to producing professional level deliverables, to include programs, projects, papers, and/or case studies.
 
Orally/visually present prepared material: You are required to present your results in a professional manner. In a face-to-face course, this typically means an oral presentation accompanied by appropriate visual material. In a DE class, this means creating a visual/textual presentation for your instructor and classmates.
 
Complete one or more written examination(s): The examination process in this class will assist you in developing the writing and critical thinking skills necessary for successfully passing the comprehensive exam required of all graduate students. The examination questions used for this course will either be taken directly from past comprehensive exams or written as though to be included on a comprehensive exam.

Course Schedule:

This schedule presents 16 units or modules, with each unit corresponding to a regular three-hour weekday meeting, a half-day on weekends, or a full week of DE.
 
This schedule presents 16 units or modules, with each unit corresponding to a half-day.

Initial module:
Introductions
Review of syllabus
Clarification of goals, objectives and requirements
Orientation to subject
Introduction to Computer Networks and Data
Communications CH 1

Second module:
Fundamentals of Data and Signals CH 2

Third module:
The Media: Conducted and Wireless CH 3

Fourth module:
Making Connections CH 4

Fifth module:
Multiplexing: Sharing a Medium CH 5

Sixth module:
Errors, Error Detection, and Error Control CH 6

Seventh module:
Local Area Networks: The Basics CH 7

Midterm

Eighth module:
Local Area Networks: Internetworking CH 8

Ninth module:
Local Area Networks: Software and Support Systems CH 9

Tenth module:
Introduction to Wide Area Networks CH10

Eleventh module:
The Internet CH11

Twelfth module:
Telecommunication Systems CH12

Thirteenth module:
Network Security CH13

Fourteenth module:
Network Design and Management CH14

Fifteenth module:
Examination
Student presentations

Sixteenth module:
Student presentations
Course evaluations

Academic Policies:

Please refer to the UMUC - Europe Graduate Catalog, available online at http://www.ed.umuc.edu/general_info/publications/catalogs/index.html or from your local Education Center, for information on the following:
        Academic Integrity
        Course Load
        Exception to Policy
        Grade Appeal Process
        Make-up Examinations
        Nondiscrimination
        Students with Disabilities

Faculty Bio:

Manfred Trostmann
got his Diploma in Electrical Communication from the Rhenish-Westphalian Technical University and in Electrical Engineering from the University of Applied Sciences at Cologne.
After working for DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION (DEC) and Mobil Oil he managed the computer center of the University of Frankfurt and build the network for this university.
He is teaching for University of Maryland since 20 years and belongs to the graduate faculty where he is teaching several classes in the MIS program in Germany.


Last updated by Manfred Trostmann: September 29, 2003, 4:04 pm edgradmis
Find this syllabus linked from the schedule at: http://www.ed.umuc.edu/schedule