Basic concepts of data communication networking and computer communications architectures, including packet/circuit/virtual-circuit switching, layered communication architecture and OSI layers, general description of DLC, network and transport layers, some detailed protocol study of Ethernet, ATM and TCP/IP. Credit is not allowed for both CSC 401 and ECE 407. 3 credit hours

ST 370- Probability and Statistics for Engineers

CSC 246 – Concepts and Facilities of Operating Systems for Computer Scientists

Restrictions: Credits are not allowed for both CSC 401 and ECE 407. Credits are not allowed for both CSC 401 and CSC/ECE 570.

Telecommunications and networking attracts a large number of students, reflecting an increased emphasis in society on the information age. The area is of great practical importance; nearly every one of us makes use of networking on a daily basis, often without a second thought about the details of operation. An important goal of this course is to reveal the underlying principles of operation. Specifically, the course will introduce students to the fundamental problems and solution techniques involved in networking, ranging from the physical transmission of information to ensuring reliable end-to-end transport for applications. In addition, case studies of particular protocols will demonstrate how these fundamental concepts are manifest in practice. Case studies provide an excellent opportunity to see how principles are applied in practice. They also provide the opportunity to practice a critical skill: shifting through details for the key idea.
At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to:

• correctly use the core terminology of networking (protocol, service, interface, peer-to-peer communication, layering, etc.);
• demonstrate understanding of the fundamental problems and solution techniques that arise in the physical, data link, network, transport, and application layers;
• understand the details of several particular protocols, as example implementations of fundamental principles;
• digest descriptions of specific protocols, extracting the fundamental concepts;
• debug candidate solutions, to determine if they satisfy correctness criteria;
• assess and compare solution approaches using elementary performance evaluation techniques; and
• apply basic concepts of networking in new networking environments (as an aside, you should know that re-inventing the wheel is common in networking).

In addition, the subject area serves to integrate a wide range of computer science (and electrical engineering) concepts, including coding, algorithms, distributed systems, mathematical performance analysis, fault tolerance, etc.