The University of Texas at Dallas

School of Management

MIS 6316 Syam Menon

Telecommunications Spring 2005

Syllabus

Office SOM 3.421

Phone (972) 883–4779
E-mail syam@utdallas.edu

Class Hours Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. (SoM 2.802)

Office Hours Wednesdays, 5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m., and by appointment

Text Books Combo Pack, Prentice Hall (ISBN: 0131329731), consisting of

• Business Data Communications, 5th Edition by William Stallings
• OPNET Lab Manual by Leann Christianson

Outline This course is an introduction to the basic concepts underlying voice/data communica-
tions, local area networks, wide area networks, and the Internet. It is intended to make
you aware of various data communications technologies, and to enable you to make
informed decisions regarding them.

Handouts Check WebCT often. You are responsible for all handout related material irrespective
of attendance.

Examinations Three comprehensive, closed-book, closed-notes examinations will be given in

class during specified days. Each will be worth 20% of the final grade. Only a
pen or pencil is allowed during examinations. The tentative schedule is:

Examination Date
01 Feb 09, 2005
02 Mar 23, 2005
03 Apr 20, 2005

If you miss either of the first two examinations, the weight of the missed
examination will be added on to the weight of the third examination. That
is, the weight on the third examination will be 40% for students missing one
of the first two examinations while it will be 60% for students missing both
of the first two examinations. Make-up examinations will not be available.

Homework Two homework assignments involving the package OPNET will be required, and be
distributed via WebCT. Each assignment will be worth 10% of the final grade.

Quizzes Six 30 minute, closed-book, closed-notes quizzes will be assigned over the course of
the semester. Only a pen or pencil is allowed during quizzes. I will select the
best 4 scores of each student; each selected quiz will be worth 5% of the final
grade. The tentative quiz schedule is:

Quiz Date Quiz Date Quiz Date

01 Jan 19 02 Jan 26 03 Feb 23
04 Mar 02 05 Apr 06 06 Apr 13

Make-up quizzes will not be available.

MIS 6316 - Telecommunications Spring 2005
Syam Menon page 2

Grades The default schedule for grade assignment will be: (≥ 90%) ⇒ A, (≥ 80% & < 90%) ⇒
B, (≥ 70% & < 80%) ⇒ C, (≥ 60% & < 70%) ⇒ D, (< 60%) ⇒ F . I may adjust the
final cut-offs appropriately based on the degree of difficulty of the graded material.

Comments • You are responsible for any announcements made in class. This includes any
alterations to the tentative schedule. You are also responsible for material distributed
in class, through WebCT and via the class web page.
• Only a pen or pencil is allowed during examinations and quizzes.
• Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary proceedings as noted in the
student catalog at
http://www.utdallas.edu/student/catalog/grad02/appendices/appendix-I.htm

Coverage The topics expected to be covered (approximately in sequence) are:

• Overview
• Protocol Architectures
• Transmission Fundamentals
• Transmission Media
• Encoding Signals
• Digital Data Communication
• Data Link Control
• Circuit and Packet Switching
• Routing
• Wireless Basics
• Local Area Networks
• Internet
• Network Security