MIDLANDS STATE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS

ADVANCED DATA COMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTER NETWORKS (HCS 412)

COURSE OUTLINE
PERIOD: 2021
Lecturer: Mr. T. T. Gotora

Email ID: gotorat@staff.msu.ac.zw/ trust.gotora@yahoo.com

Contact No: 0718002497

Preamble:
The purpose of the course is to give students a sound understanding in data transmission
fundamentals, operating principles of wireless networks, network and transport layer
operations and mechanisms enforced in network security. This course provides a general
introduction to emerging technologies, with an emphasis on the architectures and benefits. It
will cover some of the standards of cellular networks and wireless LANs i.e. IEEE 802.11 and
802.15 projects.

Learning Objectives:
Students will be able expected to:
● Understand various data transmission techniques i.e. digital and analog transmission.
● Gain knowledge on wireless LAN architecture and how they operate.
● Understand cellular networks operations i.e. GSM, UMTS, LTE and 5G.
● Appreciate the various routing algorithms and protocols.
● Apply IP Addressing and routing concepts in computer networks.
● Understand the various security mechanisms applied in the network and transport layers.
 ● Understand the various architectures and benefits of emerging technologies like the
Cloud, Software Defined Networks and Internet of Things.

UNIT I: DATA TRANSMISSION (Week 1-2: 4 Lectures)

Analog and Digital Signals
● Sine wave properties, Square wave properties, Digital Signal as a Composite Signal
Data Rate and Baud Rate
● Data Element, Signal Element, Bit Rate, Baud Rate, Nyquist Bit Rate, Shannon Capacity
Digital-To-Digital Conversion
● Line Coding, Line Coding Schemes, Block Coding, Scrambling
Digital-To-Analog Conversion
● Amplitude Shift Keying, Frequency Shift Keying, Phase Shift Keying, Quadrature
Amplitude Modulation
Analog-To-Digital Conversion
● Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), Delta Modulation (DM)

UNIT II: WIRELESS LANs (Week 3-4: 4 Lectures)

IEEE 802.11 Project (Wi-Fi)
● Architecture, MAC Sublayer, Addressing Mechanism, Physical Layer, Standards.
IEEE 802.15 Project (Bluetooth)
● Architecture, Bluetooth Layers, Security
IEEE 802.15.4 Standards (Television Whitespace/White-Fi)
● Dynamic Spectrum Access (DSA), Architecture, Applications, New Developments

UNIT III: CELLULAR NETWORKS (Week 5-6: 4 Lectures)

3G Networks
● Architecture, Security and Handover in 3G Networks (i.e. GSM and UMTS)
4G Networks
● Architecture, Security and Handover in 4G Networks (i.e. LTE and LTE-Advanced)
5G Networks
● Characteristics, Architecture, Benefits, New Developments

UNIT IV: NETWORK LAYER (Week 7-8: 4 Lectures)

IPV4 Addressing
● Address Space, Classful Addressing, Classless Addressing, Dynamic Host Configuration
Protocol (DHCP).
Routing Algorithms
● Distance-Vector Routing, Link-State Routing, Path-Vector Routing
IPV6 Addressing
● Representation, Address Space, Auto-configuration, Renumbering.
Transition from IPV4 to IPV6
● IPv4 and IPv6 Packet Formats, Strategies, Use of IP Addresses
UNIT V: NETWORK SECURITY (Week 9-10: 3 Lectures)
Network-Layer Security
 ● Two Modes, Two Security Protocols, Services Provided by IPSec, Security Association,
Internet Key Exchange (IKE), Virtual Private Network (VPN)
Transport-Layer Security
● SSL Architecture, Four Protocols, TLS Vs SSL.
UNIT VI: EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES (Week 10-11: 3 Lectures)
Cloud Computing
● Characteristics, Benefits, Service Models, Deployment Models, Types of Virtualization
Software Defined Networks
● Define SDN, SDN Framework, SDN Architecture, The Benefits of SDN, SDN use cases
Internet of Things (IoT)
● Definition, IoT Architecture, Applications

Tools to be used:
Cisco Packet Tracer 6.1+
Java/Python/C/C++ Programming Language
Virtual Box / VMWare Virtualization Tools
OpenvSwitch
Azure Web Services/Google App Engine/IBM BlueStack Cloud Products

Methodology
Lectures, Research, Presentations, Lab Sessions, Discussions, Tutorials and Group work.

Course Assessment
Course Work (40%)
1 Test and 2 Assignments 15%
3 Practical Assignments 25%
Final Examination (60%)

Reading List
1. Forouzan B.A. (2012). Data Communications and Networking, 5th edn. McGraw-Hill.
2. Schiller J., (2008). Mobile Communications, 2nd edn, Pearson Education.
3. Stallings W., (2007). Data And Computer Communications, Eighth Edition. Pearson
Prentice Hall.
4. Tanenbaum A.S., Wetherall D.J., (2011). Computer Networks, 5th edn. Prentice Hall
PTR
5. Stallings W., (2011). Network Security Essentials: Applications And Standards, 4th
Edition
6. Citrix.com, (2014). [Online] SDN 101: An Introduction to Software Defined Networking,
White Paper. Available on < citrix.com/sdn> [Accessed On: 10 February 2018]
7. Buyya R., Vecchiola C., Selvi S.T., Kaufmann M., (2013). “Mastering Cloud
Computing: Foundations and Applications Programming”, Elsevier Inc.