Faculty Contact Information:
| Students may use email and Web Tycho. | |
Consultation:
| The instructor will be available for consultation on email and Web Tycho. | |
Required Texts and Readings:
- American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American psychological association (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: APA.
- FitzGerald, J. and Dennis, A. (2006). Business Data Communications and Networking (9th ed.) International Edition. New York: Wiley.
[Additional reading materials to be provided by the instructor.] | |
Supplementary Readings:
| All graduate students should be prepared to utilize theUMUC online 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 IT professionals should become familiar with, many of these being published both weekly and on- line. | |
Course Description:
| A study of computer networks and telecommunications functionality, characteristics, and configurations. Recent advances in standardization, internetworking, and deployment of LANs (local area networks), MANs (metropolitan area networks), and WANs (wide area networks) are examined. Topics include network topologies; protocols; architectures; and current and emerging protocols such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), 10 gigabit ethernet, and the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) Reference Model. Emphasis is on emerging trends in telecommunications, network technologies, and services. Discussion also covers strategies for network planning, implementation, management, and security. | |
Course Goals:
Upon successful completion of this course, the student should understand and be able to apply knowledge concerning:
- Underlying fundamentals of data communication.
- Network topologies and protocols.
- Telecommunication standards.
- Hardware and software supporting networks and data communications.
- Current and emerging issues and trends in networks and commuications.
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Course Objectives:
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Grading Information:
The final grade will be determined as follows:
30% -- Mid-term Examination
40% -- Final Examination
20% -- Project
10% -- Participation
According to the Graduate School grading policy, the following symbols and scale are used:
A = excellent (90-100)
B = good (80-89)
C = passing (70-79)
F = failure (less than 70)
The grade of "B" represents the benchmark for the Graduate School. It indicates the student has demonstrated competency in the subject matter of the course, i.e., has fulfilled all course requirements on time, has a clear grasp of the full range of course materials and concepts, and is able to present and apply these materials and concepts in clear, reasoned, well-organized and grammatically correct responses, whether written or oral.
Only students who fully meet this standard and, in addition, who demonstrate exceptional comprehension and application of the course subject matter, merit an "A."
Students who do not meet the benchmark standard of competency fall within the "C" range or lower. They, in effect, have not met graduate level standards. Where this failure is substantial, they earn an "F."
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Course Requirements:
The course requirements are as follows:
Examinations: Midterm and final examinations will be given.
Research paper: Students will prepare an individual research paper 15 - 20 pages in length on a current topic relating to an information technology innovation, trend or a related development. The instructor will approve the topic in advance.
Class participation: Students are expected to participate in the Weekly Discussions online and offline. | |
Description of Course Requirements:
Successful graduate students in American universities dedicate approximately three hours of preparation/study time for every hour spent in the face-to-face classroom. Thus, the following course requirements were developed on the assumption that students would be prepared to spend approximately 150 hours of their own time working on them. In an 8-week term, that is the equivalent of a half-time job. Most 10-week graduate distance education courses require at least 15 hours per week of dedicated time, plus time spent in the virtual classroom.
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 should contact the Director of Student Services, phone: +49-6221- 378299, email: edstudent_svc@ed.umuc.edu, mailing address: Unit 29216. APO AE 09102 or Im Bosseldorn 30, D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany.
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. | |
Course Schedule:
First Weekend; 5/6 April: Session 1 to 3
Session 1:
- Introduction
- Application Layer
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapters 1 and 2; supplementary material
Session 2:
- Physical Layer
- Data Link Layer
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapters 2 and 3; supplementary material
Session 3:
- Data Link Layer
- Network and Transport Layers
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapters 4 and 5; supplementary material
For all three sessions we will work inclass on small projects
WEEK 1, SESSION 4; 7 - 13 April: No session, time to work on the assignments from the last weekend classes and the project definition.
WEEK 2, SESSION 5; 14 - 20 April:
- Local Area Networks
- Wireless Local Area Networks
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapters 6 and 7; supplementary material
WEEK 3, SESSION 6; 21 - 27 April:
- Backbone Networks
- Midterm Exam
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapter 8; supplementary material
WEEK 4, SESSION 7; 28 April - 4 May:
- Metropolitan and Wide Area Networks
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapter 9; supplementary material
WEEK 5, SESSION 8; 5 - 11 May:
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapter 10; supplementary material WEEK 8:
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapter 11; supplementary material
WEEK 6, SESSION 9; 12 - 16 May:
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapter 12; supplementary material
WEEKEND 17/18 MAY :
Session 10
Network Management
Readings: FitzGerald and Dennis, Chapter 13; supplementary material
Discussion of assignments
Project presentations with discussions
Final
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Academic Policies:
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Faculty Bio:
Manfred Trostmann earned the 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 at the University of Frankfurt and built the network for the university. He has been teaching for the University of Maryland for 15 years and belongs to the graduate faculty where he is teaching several classes in the MIS program in Germany.
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