AEE 3610: Data Communication and Networking

This course aims to introduce the students to the fundamentals of data and computer networking. The students will learn how information is exchanges between computing devices over the Internet. We will see how signal are transmitted across communications links, the concepts of channel/link bandwidth, data rate, signal encoding, modulation and error control will be introduced. You will then learn how multiple links can be used to form networks by using switching, routing and internetworking. Examples using present day technologies will be given such as WiFi, video streaming, Ethernet, ADSL and web browsing.
Topics to be covered include overview of computer networking, communication and transmission systems. Physical layer: introduction to Fourier analysis and signal impairments; basics of information theory, channel capacity, analog and digital data transmission, signal encoding. Data link layer protocols and multiplexing. Medium Access Control, framing, error control, flow/congestion control and their algorithms. Network layer: circuit vs. packet switching, asynchronous transfer mode, routing algorithms. Internet architectures and protocols. LAN architectures. Introduction to Wireless LANs.