Faculty Contact Information:
I can be contacted at the email address given above. Please always address me by my first name, Kerry. (I am a guy (male).)
If you have any questions about the course feel free to contact me at the email address provided.
Each email message subject line must begin with "MSIT 610:", otherwise, your message may wind up in my junk email folder. Thanks.
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Consultation:
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While most of our communications will take place in the WebTycho classroom, messages of a personal nature should be sent to me by email.
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Required Texts and Readings:
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American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Cyganski, David, Orr, John A., & Vaz, Richard F. (2000). Information technology inside and outside. Upper Saddle River, N J: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-13-011496-0. [COV].
Walters, Garrison E. (2001). The Essential Guide to Computing. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. ISBN 0-12-01-019469-7. [Walters]
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Supplementary Readings:
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Gibson, Jerry D. (Ed). (1997). The communications handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-8349-8. [HBK].
Freeman, Roger L. (1996). Telecommunication system engineering (3rd ed.). New York: John Wiley. ISBN 0-471-13302-7.
Green, James Harry. (2000). The Irwin handbook of telecommunications (4th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-135554-5.
Terplan, Kornel, & Morreale, Patricia. (2000). The telecommunications handbook. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-3137-4.
All graduate students should be prepared to utilize the UMUC online library at http://www.ed.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.
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Recommended Journals:
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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.
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Course Description:
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This course lays a common foundation for use in all other courses in the program. Its goal is to impart an understanding of how the many elements that make up information technology work and what their limitations are. The course reviews mathematical and physical concepts helpful in thinking about the capabilities of information technology and its applications. Mathematical concepts include information theory, the representation of signals in both the time and frequency domains, modulation schemes, digitization, and probability. Physical concepts include electromagnetic waves, the properties of various guided and unguided transmission media, integrated circuits, lasers, and optical transmission and switching. The course also introduces concepts essential to information security applications, such as various encryption schemes and measures for assuring personnel and physical security. Insofar as possible these concepts will be treated descriptively rather than analytically.
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Course Goals:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Describe concepts in mathematics and physics that are affecting the development and deployment of information technologies.
2. State the mathematical concepts underlying information theory.
3. Identify various methods for data compression.
4. Differentiate the representations of a signal in time and frequency.
5. Describe and compare the capability of transmission media such as copper wire, optical fiber, and coaxial cable to carry an electrical or optical signal.
6. Explain convergence of technologies in the anticipated deployment of new telecommunications infrastructure including satellites, wireless, fiber optics, cable, and other media.
7. Describe the relationship between the public switched telephone network and the Internet.
8. Identify methods for achieving information security, including various types of cryptosystems.
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Course Objectives:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should be able to:
1. Describe concepts in mathematics and physics that are affecting the development and deployment of information technologies.
2. State the mathematical concepts underlying information theory.
3. Identify various methods for data compression.
4. Differentiate the representations of a signal in time and frequency.
5. Describe and compare the capability of transmission media such as copper wire, optical fiber, and coaxial cable to carry an electrical or optical signal.
6. Explain convergence of technologies in the anticipated deployment of new telecommunications infrastructure including satellites, wireless, fiber optics, cable, and other media.
7. Describe the relationship between the public switched telephone network and the Internet.
8. Identify methods for achieving information security, including various types of cryptosystems.
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Grading Information:
Final grades will be calculated as follows:
Online Quizzes................................5%
Midterm......................................25%
Final Exam...................................25%
Individual Paper.............................15%
Study Group Project and Presentation.........15%
Homework/In-class Assignments/Discussions....15%
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Course Requirements:
EXAMINATIONS:
There will be a mid-term and a final examination. The questions will be designed to give you an opportunity to demonstrate not only how well you have assimilated the content of MSIT 610, but also how well you can apply the concepts.
WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS:
The length of your assignments may vary, but the average submission should be less than one page. If your answers are in mathematical form, ignore the limitation on the length of your answers. Your weekly assignments will be judged as a whole. Essential grading criterion: did the student demonstrate knowledge of the material? Clear writing will also be a factor in grading. Postings with misspellings and poor grammar are likely to receive a reduced grade.
INDIVIDUAL PAPER:
The paper should be more than 1,500 words, but absolutely no more than 2,000 words. If you wish, you can select your own topic for the paper. Otherwise, your instructor will select a topic. The purpose of the paper is to give you an opportunity to demonstrate not only that you understand the material you are reading, but also that you can apply the concepts.
GROUP CASE STUDY PAPER:
Most of the work of information technology is done not by individuals working in isolation, but by groups of people with different backgrounds and skills. To affirm the practice, MSIT 610 includes a major group project. You will be assigned to a Study Group based on a selected case study paper. This should be a nine- to ten- page substantive paper taking a desktop publishing approach to the APA publication guidelines with supportive evidence from a variety of sources, such as articles from periodicals, books, and documents gleaned from the Internet. Your first task will be to do some preliminary investigation of a specific information technology that has been assigned to you and to divide the work of researching the answers to six or seven questions. A sketch of the system based on information technology and your group's answers are what make up your case study report. However, do not write your report in a question-answer format. Instead, use a logical and connected narrative that would answer the questions. Your textbooks include a list of references. Be prepared to retrieve information from technical/professional journals such as IEEE Transactions on Communications and IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. Do not neglect the value of charts, tables, and diagrams.
PRESENTATION:
This presentation can be either a PowerPoint slide show or a RealMedia voice-over-slide presentation. The presentation should illustrate the major points of the paper and demonstrate the graduate school's emphasis on the ability to do crisp, effective business presentations on a technical topic. The group is responsible for uploading and linking to the presentation to the appropriate section of the presentation conference on the assigned date.
PARTICIPATION:
Throughout the semester you will be expected to participate meaningfully by engaging in class or online discussions.
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Description of Course Requirements:
STATEMENT ON WRITING REQUIREMENTS:
Effective managers and leaders are also effective communicators. Written communication is an important element of the total communication process. The Graduate School recognizes and expects exemplary writing to be the norm for course work. To this end, all analyses and papers must demonstrate graduate level writing ability and comply with the format requirements of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. All writing assignments will be graded on the basis of content, logic, analysis, mechanics, organization, and research. Careful attention should be given to source citations, proper listing of references, the use of footnotes, and the presentation of tables and graphs. Work submitted online should follow standard procedures for formatting and citation.
POLICY ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:
Academic integrity is central to the learning and teaching process. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that will contribute to the maintenance of academic integrity by making all reasonable efforts to prevent the occurrence of academic dishonesty. Academic dishonesty includes (but is not limited to) obtaining or giving aid on an examination, having unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination, doing work for another student, and plagiarism of all types.
PLAGIARISM:
Plagiarism is the intentional or unintentional presentation of another person's idea or product as one's own. Plagiarism includes, but is not limited to the following: copying verbatim all or part of another's written work; using phrases, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source; paraphrasing ideas, conclusions, or research without citing the source; and using all or part of a literary plot, poem, film, musical score, or other artistic product without attributing the work to its creator. Students can avoid unintentional plagiarism by following carefully accepted scholarly practices. Notes taken for papers and research projects should accurately record sources of material to be cited, quoted, paraphrased, or summarized, and papers should acknowledge these sources in footnotes. The penalties for plagiarism include a zero or a grade of F on the work in question, a grade of F in the course, suspension with a file letter, suspension with a transcript notation, or expulsion.
Resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC, UMUC-Europe or BSU), partially or in its entirety, is not acceptable in this course and will result in an automatic failure on the assignment.
DISABLED STUDENTS:
Students with disabilities who need to register or request services should contact the Staff Support Team four to six weeks in advance of registration to request and register for services. Call (301) 985-7930 or (301) 985-7858 (TDD).
COURSE EVALUATIONS:
Feedback on each graduate course and instructor is important to the university, your professor, and to all UMUC students. UMUC has the responsibility to assess the effectiveness of classroom instruction, and each student has the responsibility to provide accurate and timely feedback through completion of the course evaluation form. This is a shared obligation for us all. It is therefore important that you complete the evaluation form for each course you attend. This should be viewed as an additional course and program requirement.
BRIEF WEB-TYCHO ORIENTATION - ONLINE HELP:
Online help is available in the WebTycho classroom. In addition, Tycho Support is available seven days a week at tychosupport@polaris.umuc.edu. You can call (301) 985-7079 locally, (800) 807-4862 long distance in U.S., or 011-301-985-7079 outside the U.S. The hours of operation are Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time) and Saturday and Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Time).
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Course Schedule:
WEEK 1: 4 - 10 September 2006
What is the Information in the Information Revolution? The World Wide Web: A Unique Product of the Information Age
1. Information, message, and signals
2. Examples of information systems
3. Analog and digital information
4. What is the Web, and why was it created?
5. How the Web solves our document distribution problem 6. How the Web was won 7. Success of the World Wide Web 8. Structure of the Web 9. Technologies that enhance the power of the web 10. Java and the Web
Readings: Cyganski, Orr, & Vaz [COV] Chs. 1, 2 (pp. 1-34) Assignment: Session 1 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 2: 11 - 17 September 2006
Fundamentals of Binary Representation
1. Information and its representation
2. Bits as building blocks of information
3. Convenient forms for binary codes
4. Using protocols to organize information
5. Protocols for sending data
6. Word processor and Web protocols
Readings: COV Chs. 3, 4 (pp. 38-72) HBK Ch. 41 (pp. 567-576) NOTE: All HBK (Gibson, 1997, Communications Handbook) readings are available on electronic reserve in Library Services. Assignment: Session 2 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 3: 18 - 24 September 2006
Graphics and Visual Information
1. Images: Information without words or numbers 2. Human visual discrimination and acuity 3. Other types of image formation 4. Converting images to bits 5. Binocular vision and 3D displays 6. From images to video 7. Synthesizing images 8. Displaying the bit-mapped image 9. Display device formats 10. From numbers to images 11. Virtual reality modeling language (VRML) 12. Organization of a VRML scene 13. Placing a surface on a virtual object
Readings: COV Chs. 5, 6 (pp. 76-107) Assignment: Session 3 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 4: 25 September - 1 October 2006
Data Compression
1. Why can information be compressed? 2. Information theory 3. Probability-based coding 4. Variable length coding 5. Universal coding 6. Image compression * Joint Photographic Experts Group(JPEG) standard for lossless compression * GIF: another lossless image compression system 7. Digital video * Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) video compression 8. Digital television
Readings: COV Chs. 7, 8, 9 (pp. 110-146) HBK Ch. 101 (pp. 1437-1448), Ch. 102 (pp. 1449-1461) Assignment: Session 4 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 5: 2 - 8 October 2006
Audio as Information; Sampling of Audio Signals; Digital Audio
1. From sound to signals 2. Sinusoidal frequency components 3. The frequency content and bandwidth of audio signals 4. Sampling an audio signal 5. Reconstructing audio from samples 6. Digitization of audio samples 7. The process of quantization 8. Quantization noise 9. Reconstruction 10. Applications
Readings: COV Chs. 10, 11, 12 (pp. 150-179) Assignment: Session 5 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 6: 9 - 15 October 2006
The Telephone System: Wired and Wireless
1. Analog telephone system 2. Digital telephone system 3. Cellular telephone systems 4. Satellite telephones
Readings: COV Ch. 13 (pp. 180-190) HBK Ch. 77 (pp. 1069-1089), Ch. 79 (pp. 1104-1115), Ch. 89 (pp. 1257-1275) Assignment: Session 6 Review Questions (TBA)
Midterm Examination
WEEK 7: 16 - 22 October 2006
TERM BREAK
Assignment: Individual paper due: End of Week 7.
WEEK 8: 23 - 29 October 2006
Transmission Technology
1. What is bandwidth and how is it used? 2. Real-time data transmission 3. Finite data rate and real-time transmission 4. Fiber-optic transmission 5. Wire as a transmission medium 6. Fiber-optic cable
Readings: COV Chs. 14, 15 (pp. 194-225) HBK Ch. 1 (pp. 3-12), Ch. 7 (pp. 87-930), Ch. 54 (pp. 731-739), Ch. 55 (pp. 740-750) Assignment: Session 8 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 9: 30 October - 5 November 2006
Radio-Frequency and Satellite Systems; Large-Capacity Storage
1. Overview of radio communications system design 2. Satellite and other long-distance communications systems 3. The Global Positioning System 4. Magnetic disks and tapes 5. The compact disk 6. Digital versatile disk 7. Future digital data storage media
Readings: COV Chs. 16, 17 (pp. 226-243) HBK Ch. 66 (pp. 893-911) Assignment: Session 9 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 10: 6 - 12 November 2006
Telephone and Data Communications Networks
1. Circuit-based networks 2. The packet-switched connection 3. Wider bandwidth data transmission 4. Asynchronous transfer mode
Readings: COV Ch. 18 (pp. 246-257) HBK Ch. 22 (pp.291-300), Ch. 24 (pp. 308-317), Ch. 32 (pp. 425- 432), Ch. 33 (pp. 433-449), Ch. 38 (pp. 529-541), Ch. 45 (pp. 611-621) Assignment: Session 10 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 11: 13 - 19 November 2006
The Local Area Network
1. Datagram packet switching 2. Ethernet datagram 3. Datagram transmission 4. Collision detection multiple access
Readings: COV Ch. 19 (pp. 258-267) HBK: Ch. 43 (pp. 591-596), Ch. 50 (pp. 681-685) Assignment: Session 11 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 12: 20 - 26 November 2006
Organization of the Internet; Voice over IP and the Convergence
1. How would you organize universal mail delivery? 2. What makes up the backbone of the Internet? 3. Circuit-switched telephone systems 4. The IP packet connection 5. How to and why move to VoIP?
Readings: COV Ch. 20 (pp. 268-276), Ch. 22 (pp. 294-312) HBK Ch. 52 (pp. 701-716) Assignment: Session 12 Review Questions (TBA)
WEEK 13: 27 November - 3 December 2006
Electronic Commerce and Information Security
1. Threats to information security 2. Security services 3. Data security and cryptosystems 4. Computationally secure symmetric key cryptography 5. Public key cryptography 6. Digital signatures 7. Electronic commerce
Readings: COV Ch. 21 (pp. 277-293) Assignment: Session 13 Review Questions (TBA)
Final Examination
Assignment: Group case study paper and presentation due.
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Academic Policies:
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The University has a license agreement with Turnitin.com, a service that helps prevent plagiarism from internet resources. I may be using this service in this class by either requiring students to submit their papers electronically to Turnitin.com or by submitting questionable text on behalf of a student. If you or I submit part or all of your paper, it will be stored by Turnitin.com in their database throughout the term of the University's contract with Turnitin.com. If you object to this temporary storage of your paper, you must let me know no later than two weeks after the start of this class. Please Note: If you object to the storage of your paper on Turnitin.com, I may utilize other services to check your work for plagiarism
The official university policy on Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty can be found at http://www.umuc.edu/policy/aa15025.shtml. Section I.C. states: "Faculty may determine if the resubmission of course work from previous classes (whether or not taken at UMUC), partially or in its entirety, is acceptable when assigning a grade on that piece of course work. Faculty must provide this information in their written syllabi. If the resubmission of course work is deemed to be unacceptable, a charge may not be brought under this Policy and will be handled as indicated in the written syllabi."
Please refer to Description of Course Requirements for specific information on how resubmissions will be treated in this course and to the UMUC-Europe Graduate Catalog for information on the following:
Academic Integrity
Course Load
Exception to Policy
Grade Appeal Process
Make-up Examinations
Nondiscrimination
Students with Disabilities
Code of Civility
Hard copies of the catalog are available at your local Education Center.
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Faculty Bio:
Kerry Painter earned his BA degree in Chinese-Vietnamese Language Studies from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. Before attending the University of Hawaii, he studied electrical engineering at Clemson University, attended the 47-week North Vietnamese language course at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, and worked as a linguist for the Army Security Agency in both Vietnam and Korea.
For six years after college graduation he worked in radio news as a reporter, writer, announcer, news director, and manager in Hawaii, Texas, and Delaware. He earned an MS degree in Technical and Science Communication and an MS in Computer Science from Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Kerry did doctoral studies at Drexel and has taught a variety of computer science and mathematics courses at Drexel University, Penn State University, Elizabethtown College, and Swarthmore College, all in Pennsylvania. He joined The University of Maryland European Division in January 1989 and has taught at SHAPE in Belgium, Soesterberg Air Base, AFCENT, and Volkel in Holland, Aviano Air Base in Italy, and at several German locations: Augsburg, Bad Kreuznach, Bamberg, Baumholder, Berlin, Beuchel, Bitburg, Dexheim, Geilenkirchen, Giebelstadt, Hahn, Hanau, Heidelberg, Kapaun (Vogelweh - Kaiserslautern), Kitzingen, Mannheim, Ramstein, Schweinfurt, Spangdahlem, Wiesbaden, and Wuerzburg.
In addition to his academic pursuits, Kerry enjoys learning and playing the recorder and guitar, tracking satellites over Europe, and bruising muscles learning German home construction and renovation techniques.
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