Computer Science (CSC) 330
Data Communication

Online Journals 

Projects
Jason Burrell Jason Burrell
Ryan Haig Ryan Haig
Jennifer Lonergan-Flynn Jennifer Lonergan-Flynn
Kristofer Meyers Kristofer Meyers
Tory Mulch Tory Mulch
Alexis Smith Alexis Smith

Course Syllabus

Course Information

Credit hours:              3
Semester:                   Fall 2000
Day & Time:              Tuesdays and Thursdays at 12:30 AM
Room:                         Mac Hall 16

Instructor Information

Instructor:                   Kent Palmer
Office:                         Mac Hall 15B
Office Hours:              Monday 8:30-9:30 PM
                                     Tuesday 2:00-3:30 PM
                                     Wednesday 10:00-11:30 AM
                                     Thursday 8:30-9:30 PM
                                     Friday 10-11:30 AM
Office Phone:              (217) 479-7102
Home Phone:              (217) 245-7675
E-mail:                         kpalmer@mac.edu
Home page:                 http://www.mac.edu/~kpalmer 

Required Material

Stallings, William.  Business Data Communications. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc., 2001.

Computer Lab Hours

Sunday:         2:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Monday:        8:00 AM – 7:00 PM, 8:30 PM – 11:00 PM
Tuesday:        8:00 AM – 9:30 AM, 12:20 PM – 6:00 PM, 9:00 PM –11:00 PM
Wednesday:  8:00 AM – 11:00 PM
Thursday:      8:00 AM – 9:30 AM, 12:20 PM – 7:00 PM, 8:30 PM –11:00 PM
Friday:           8:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Saturday:        11:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Course Goals

Catalog description: A survey of computer communication and networks.  Topics include physical aspects of data communications, hardware, data link protocols, network components, network topology, and the ISO reference model.  Prerequisite: Computer Science 305

Objectives: Data communication happens when two or more electronic devices exchange information.  The major objective of this course is to examine the hardware and software that allow this information interchange to happen.  A minor objective is understanding the business and public policy issues related to changing data communication technology.

After completing this course a student should be familiar with:

Course Expectations

Attendance: Students are expected to attend each scheduled class session. If a student needs to miss a class, he or she should notify the instructor in advance. Unexcused class absences will adversely affect the participation grade.  If an assignment is due on a day that a student must miss a class, the student should arrange to turn in the assignment before the due date. 

Exams may only be made up in the case of an excused absence.  Please notify the instructor in advance if you are unable to attend a scheduled exam session.

Readings: This course will cover a lot of material.  It is important that you read the text.  Exams may include material from the text or from student’s Web sites that are not covered in lecture.

Academic Honesty: Students are referred to the policy outlined in the student handbook (The Maggie) regarding MacMurray’s policies concerning academic honesty.

Equal Opportunity

The MacMurray Faculty as well as the Board of Trustees and the Student Association have adopted the following goal: “We the MacMurray College community, pledge ourselves to the creation of a multi-cultural environment in which people of all cultures and origins are brought together to share their histories, beliefs, and attitudes.  We realize that the task we are undertaking is difficult but we dedicate ourselves and our college to the process of finding solution to multi-cultural problems.  We hope this will lead to a community that fosters the ideas of harmony, unity and understanding; and that the creation of this multicultural community will serve as a model for others.”  If you feel that I am not upholding the spirit of this commitment by treating all students in my class fairly, please talk to me about the concern.  If you are uncomfortable talking with me about the concern or are not satisfied with my response, you can see either the Dean Of Students, Anne Jackson (extension 123) or the Dean of the College, Jim Goulding (extension 016).  Both desire to maintain a diverse campus community and can help resolve any discrimination issues.

Student with Disabilities

If you have a disability that may affect your ability to perform the work in this class, please inform me right away.  It may be possible to adapt the computer equipment, material used in the course, or testing methods to accommodate a particular student’s needs.  Ken Roumpos (extension 222) coordinates services for students with special needs.  The Learning Center (extension 170) also provides tutoring and other assistance if needed.

Grading Scale

Grade

Percentage

A

90 – 110%

B

80 – 89%

C

70 – 79%

D

60 – 79%

F

0 – 59%

Grade Distribution

Component

Percentage (totals 110 %)

Exam 1

15 %

Exam 2

15 %

Final exam

25 %

Online journal

  8 %

Major project

12 %

Homework

30 %

Attendance & participation

  5 %

Topical Outline

Dates approximate

(Chapter references are to Stallings, Business Data Communications)

Day

Chapter

Topics covered

August 29

1

Introduction

August 31

2

Business Information

September 5

3

Distributed Data Processing

September 7

4

TCP/IP

September 12

4

OSI

September 14

5

The Internet

September 19

5

Quality of Service

September 21 

1-5, Web

Exam 1

September 26

6

Data Transmission

September 28

7

Transmission Media

October 3

8

Data Communication Fundamentals

October 5

8

Synchronous Transmission

October 10

9

Flow Control     **Topic due for project**

October 12  

 

Break

October 17

10

Transmission Efficiency

October 19

10

Multiplexing

October 24

6-10, Web  

Exam 2

October 26

11

Circuit-Switching Networks

October 31

11

Packet-Switching Networks

November 2

12

Frame Relay

November 7

12

ATMs

November 9

13

Wireless networks

November 14

14

LAN technology

November 16

15

Ethernet/ Fibre Channel

Nov 20-23

 

Break

November 28

16

EDI                     **Projects due**

November 30

17

Client /Servers

December 5

19

Network Management

December 7

20

Network Security

December 15

1-14,16,17, Web

Comprehensive Final-Friday at 10:30 AM

Major Project

Prepare a web site based on your research on a topic related to data communications or networking.  The site should contain about 2500 words of text on various pages.  You should include at least 10 bibliographic citations or external links.  The grade of this assignment will be primarily determined by textual content rather than the quality of graphical presentation.  An example project can be found at http://www.mac.edu/~jburrell/csc320/major.project/

Submit a one page proposal describing your proposed research and include at least two references by October 10. The final project is due November 28.

Online Journal

You should maintain a Web page with biweekly entries (for a total of 6 entries).  An entry in the journal should include a 200 to 500 word review or summary of an article or chapter (from a book other than the textbook for this course) about a topic related to networking.  The student should include a full citation of the article using the documentation protocol given in Allen Metcalf’s Research to the Point.  If the material being reviewed is online, the entry should include link as well as a citation. Include the date on which you post a journal entry someplace in the body of the page.  Examples of journal entries can be found at http://www.mac.edu/~jburrell/csc320/journals.html

Homework Schedule

Some adjustments to the homework schedule may occur during the semester.

There will be a one day grace period on all assignments.  After that, credit for an assignment will be reduced by 5% for each additional day it is late (Saturday and Sundays count as late days, but assignments can be turned in on either day).  No assignment will be accepted more than 10 days late.

Due Date 

Chapter 

Questions in Stallings 

Problems in Stallings 

Sept. 5

1

3,5,6

 

Sept. 7

2

3

1,3,4,6

Sept. 12

3

3

1

Sept. 14

4

3

4,6

Sept. 19

On separate handout

Sept. 21

5

3,9,15

2

Oct. 3

6

4,5,7

1,2,4

Oct. 5

7

1,3,10

1,2

Oct. 10

8

3,6,11

1,7

Oct. 17

On separate handout

Oct. 19

9

3

2,5

Oct. 24

10

3,6,9

3,4

Nov. 7

11

3,7,11

2,3,5

Nov. 9

12

3,5

3,4

Nov. 14

13

3,4

On separate handout

Nov. 16

14

3,5

3,4,5

Nov. 28

15

3,9

2

Nov. 30

16

3

1

Dec. 5

17

3,7,10

On separate handout

Dec. 7

19

3,9,14,17

On separate handout

Exam Schedule

Week  

Exam  

Topics

Sept. 21

Exam 1

TCP/IP, Distributed Data Processing, the Internet, Business Information, Web reports

Oct. 24

Exam 2

Data Transmission, Web reports

Dec. 15 (10:30 AM)

Final Exam

This exam will be comprehensive, but greater emphasis will be placed on material covered since the last exam.

MacMurray College Homepage

Department of Computer Science Homepage

 Kent Palmer Homepage  
e-mail instructor

Revised: January 19, 2004 .