Learning Outcomes At the end of this course, students should be able to:
explain data transmission over layered networks;
list and explain common internet technologies and protocols; and
explain network operating system.
Course Contents Types and sources of data. Simple communications network. Transmission definitions, one way transmission, half duplex transmission, transmission codes, transmission modes, parallel transmission, serial transmission, bit synchronisation, character synchronisation, character synchronisation, synchronous transmission, asynchronous transmission, efficiency of transmission. Introduction to network protocol. Seven Layer ISO-OSI standard protocols and network architecture. Transport protocols, session services protocols, and other protocols. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering 802 standards. Error control and Data Compression: Forward Error Control; error detection methods; parity checking; linear block codes, cyclic redundancy checking; feedback error control, data compression, Huffman coding and dynamic Huffman coding. Local Area Networks: medium access control techniques – Ethernet, token bus and token ring; fibre distributed data interface, metropolitan area network. Peer-to-peer, Client Server. Client-Server Requirements: GUI design standards, interface independence, platform independence, transaction processing, connectivity, reliability, backup, and recovery mechanisms. Features and benefits of major recovery mechanisms. Network OS: (e.g., Novell NetWare, UNIX/LINUX, OS/2 & Windows NT).
INTERNET: Definition, architecture, services, internet addressing. Internet protocol, IPv4, IPv6.
Lab Work: Demonstration of simple communications networks. Illustration of applications at the various levels of the OSI model. Demonstration of different types of Local Area Networks (LANs). Illustration of Metropolitan Area Networks. Illustration of Error Detection and Error Correction techniques. Demonstration of Network Operating Systems.
