ECEN 1200, Telecommunications 1 - Course Description

ECEN 1200 - Telecommunications 1

Peter Mathys, Fall 2006

Course Description and Requirements

Class: MW 2-2:50 pm, MUEN E0046
Computer Lab: F 2-3:50 pm, ECME 107 and ECCE 141
Call #: 73798
Instructor: Professor Peter Mathys, ECOT 334, 303-492-7733, Fax: 303-492-2758, e-mail:
Office Hours: MWF 12 noon - 1:50 and by appointment.
TA: Manav, e-mail: .

Text: Notes provided by instructor. Any suggestions for a suitable textbook are welcome. All course materials will be posted on the WWW at http://ece.colorado.edu/~mathys/ecen1200

Prerequisites: High School Algebra I & II.
Credit Hours: 3

AS QRMS: This course satisfies the QRMS (Quantitative Reasoning and Mathematical Skills) requirement of the undergraduate Arts & Sciences core curriculum.

Description: The ability to communicate and to reason is the main feature which distinguishes mankind ("homo sapiens") from animals. Economic and social development is closely tied to the ability to communicate. Therefore, as new and more sophisticated methods to communicate emerge, it is vital that individuals keep up with the capabilities offered by such new communications systems.

On the surface this course is about how to use the Internet and the WWW to access and disseminate information. A second, more fundamental purpose of this course, however, is to introduce and discuss the main concepts of modern telecommunications and data networks, electronic publishing, multimedia, coding, information theory, cryptography, data storage, and data compression. To achieve both objectives, two parallel paths will be pursued, one in the more practically oriented computer labs, and a second one in the more conceptually focused regular classes.

Concepts Covered:
1. Introduction
  - What is the Internet, Components, Conventions, Protocols, Standards
2. Applications
  - Telnet, FTP, e-mail, WWW, Electronic Publishing, Document Design and Aesthetics, Multimedia, Database Access, Search Engines, e-Business
3. It's All Digital
  - Analog vs Digital, What is Information?, Digital Communications, Digital Signal Processing
4. Bits, Bytes and Codes
  - Binary Numbers, Arithmetic and Logical Operations, Data Representation, Compression, ASCII Code
5. Why Computers?
  - Components of a Computer, Programmable Hardware, Software, Algorithms, Operating Systems, Files, Programming, Downloading and Installing Programs, History of Computers, Computers and the Environment
6. Audio and Communication Signals
  - Amplitude, Frequency, Phase, Time Domain, Frequency Domain, Bandwidth, Sampling, Quantization, Compression, Signal Processing, MP3
7. Images and Video Signals
  - Bitmapped versus Vector Graphics, Fonts, Color Systems, Image Processing, GIF, JPEG, PNG, Moving Images, MPEG
8. Telecommunications
  - Communication Theory, Point-to-point Communications, Wireless Communications, Communication Channels, Mobile Communications, Error Control Coding
9. Network Architecture
  - Resource Sharing and Allocation, Telephone Network, Circuit and Packet Switching, OSI Model, LAN, MAN, WAN, Wireless, Topology, Delay and Throughput, Protocols, Routing, Flow Control, Peer-to-peer, Client/Server, Standards
10. The Internet and the WWW
  - Organization, IP Addresses, DNS, Hypertext, HTTP, HTML, dynamic HTML, Style Sheets, Javascript, Java, WWW Servers, CGI, History of the Internet
11. Cryptography and Security
  - Attacks, Security, Firewalls, Secrecy, Privacy, Authentication, Signatures, Symmetric Key and Public Key Cryptography
12. Telecommunications and Networking Dictionary
  - Explanation of Terms and Acronyms

Practical Skills Developed:
- Access Web Pages, Send and Receive e-mail
- Search for Information and FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
- Make your own Homepage
- Look at Different Features of Computer Components
- Download and Install Program Files
- Hex Editing, Screen Capture, Binary/Decimal Conversion
- Use FTP, e-mail Attachments
- HTML Editing, Advanced Features of HTML, Cascading Style Sheets
- Analysis, Editing and Publishing of Sound Files
- Image Editing and Conversion, Analysis of Movie Formats
- Use of JavaScript in Web Pages
- Learn Cryptography Basics

Course Requirements:
1. Computer Labs/Homework (~35%): Weekly on Fridays, solution is due one week later at beginning of next lab.
2. Midterm exam (~15%): Fri. Oct. 20.
3. Group Project (~30%): Due Fri. Dec. 8, 5 pm.
  Work in groups of 2-3 students on a topic in telecommunications and/or data networking and publish the result as one or more Web pages. Group members and topic must be selected by Fri. Nov. 10.
4. Final exam (~20%): according to final exam schedule Mon. Dec. 18, 4:30-7:00 pm.

Group Projects
1. Possible topics are:
  - Effect of Telecommunications on Society
  - e-Commerce
  - e-Trading, Stock Market
  - e-Waste
  - Running an On-Line Business
  - MP3, Effect on Music Industry
  - Electronic Music
  - Music Downloading
  - All About iPods
  - Pirating on the Internet
  - Crime on the Internet
  - Hackers
  - History and Growth of the Internet
  - Wireless Internet Access
  - Internet Addiction
  - Censorship and the Internet
  - Advertising on the Internet
  - The Internet and Children
  - Internet Telephony
  - Cellular Telephones
  - High Speed Wireless Data Transmission
  - Cryptography and Security
  - National Security Agency
  - etc
2. What I expect to see:
  - You are able to get excited about and involved in your topic (thereby also exciting your audience). Do not just cut and paste! Research, crosscheck and digest the information for your topic. Then tell the story in your own words with your own voice and opinion and with involvement.
3. Grading criteria:
  - Your statement: Why you are proud of your project
  - Visual Impression
  - Relevance and Treatment of Topic
  - Content, how Deep, Opinionated
  - Design, Implementation
  - Accuracy, Attention to Detail
  - Spelling, Readability, Language, Style
4. URL's of a range of example projects from previous classes:
  - E-Waste (Great project, good and relevant topic)
  - Telecommunications at an Astronomical Level (Simple design but well done, student gets involved and is knowledgeable about topic)
  - WiFi Project (Shows good html skills but needs more attention to detail and content)
  - The Internet Today (Sloppy html code, contains little info)
  - IPv6 (Crude design, sloppy html code)
  - Snowboarding Website (Too minimalist, horrible design)

Goals: The first goal of this course is to become operational on the Internet and to be able to use the services that the Internet and the WWW provide. The second goal is to understand more fundamentally how information can be measured, represented, stored, transmitted, and protected from errors and unauthorized access.