Instructor: Dr. Richard J. Nieporent

This course provides a unified and fundamental view of the broad field of data communications networks. It emphasizes four major areas: 1) principles of data communications, 2) data communication components and services, 3) line control techniques, and 4) network design. Topics include transmission principles and media, e.g., synchronous and asynchronous transmission; data encoding and channel capacity, e.g. Nyquist and Shannon relationships; interface standards, e.g. RS-232; multiplexing, e.g. FDM, TDM, and STDM; modem standards and modulation techniques; error and line control techniques, e.g. ARQ, LRC-VRC, and CRC; FEC techniques, e.g. Hamming, Viterbi algorithm and Trellis coding; character oriented and bit oriented protocols, e.g. BISYNC, HDLC, X-Modem, Y-Modem, and Kermit; data compression techniques, e.g. Huffman coding, MNP5, and V.42bis; data security techniques, e.g. symmetric key encryption, RSA, Diffie-Hellman, digital signature, SSL/TSL, PGP; common carrier services and facilities, e.g. DDD, WATS, leased and T1 circuits; network switching technologies, e.g., circuit switching, message switching, packet switching and cell switching; common carrier network offerings, e.g., ISDN, X.25, frame relay, SMDS and ATM; and network design techniques. The network design techniques are presented in terms of topology optimization, e.g., Kruskals, Esau-Williams, and the Add algorithms; and performance requirements, e.g., TRIB, reliability, availability, and queuing analysis.

Fall 2008

Course Information


Course Administration Course Objective Schedule Course Books Instructor

Viewgraphs, notes, homeworks and solutions. A Valid User Account Required


Computer Network Information

  • Magazines
  • Standards Organizations
    • IEEE - The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standards organization responsible for the development of IEEE 802.X LAN standards

    • IETF - The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is the standards organization responsible for the development of TCP/IP standards

      • RFCs - The complete set of Internet standards documents

      • IANA - All of the numbers and parameters that have been assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority such as port numbers, Ethertypes, IP protocol numbers, etc.

    • Gigabit Ethernet Alliance - Consortium of organizations developing the next generation high speed LAN

    • Fibre Channel Association - Consortium of organizations interested in the development of Fibre Channel networks

    • ANSI X3T11 Fibre Channel committee -The US standards organization for Fibre Channel

    • ATM Forum - Consortium of organizations interested in the development of ATM networks and LAN Emulation (LANE)

    • ISO - The International Standards Institute (ISO) is the standards organization responsible for the development of OSI standards

    • ITU-T - The International Telecommunication Union Telecommuniction Standardization Sector (ITU-T) is the standards organization responsible for the development of X (data communications) and I (ISDN) standards

    • ETSI - The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ITU-T) develops standards for the European community

    • ANSI - The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is the US representative to ISO that is responsible for the US contribution to the development of OSI standards

    • Frame Relay Forum - Consortium of organizations interested in the development of Frame Relay networks

    • SMDS Interest Group - Consortium of organizations interested in the development of SMDS networks

    • The World Wide Web Consortium - Consortium of organizations developing standards for the World Wide Web (WWW)

    • The Network Management Forum - Consortium of organizations developing network management standards for the Internet


  • Miscellaneous Information
    • Dictionary - Dictionary of Data Communications Terminology

    • EMAIL

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