CS 420/520: Data Communications

Welcome to CS420/520 Data Communications. This course is offered in the Spring Semester 2020 at the University of Idaho in Moscow and is also available in Coeur d'Alene and Idaho Falls. The course is taught by Dr. Axel Krings.

This web-page contains information about the course, e.g. syllabus, class notes, pointers to interesting places etc. Material can be down-loaded in pdf format, and will be made available in the updated form as the class goes on. To get an idea of what this class is about, take a look at the Spring 2018 page. However, materials and topics constantly change, and this class will be no exception. If you have comments, please let me know.

Engineering Outreach students, there are several things you should know. First of all, if you are trying to contact me, you can call 800-824-2889 ext. 4078 (toll free). Please download the class material from the web page. Engineering Outreach students need to have web access with ssh capability to local workstations.

Course description: this course covers the concepts and terminology of data communications, electrical interfaces, data transmission, protocols, local area networks, wide area networks, inter-networking, network management, architectures, transmission alternatives, as well as some regulatory issues. For an approximate list of topics please refer to the Complete CS420/520 Class Handouts of the Spring 2018 semester page. Note: This class has Operating Systems and Computer Organization and Architecture as prereq. In a 400/500 level computer science class I expect working knowledge of unix and MS operating systems as well as programming ability.

• Contact information:
  • Axel Krings (PhD), JEB 320,
  • Phone: 208-885-4078, fax: 208-885-9052.
  • Engineering outreach students: dial toll free 800-824-2889 ext 4078
  • Mailing address: Engineering Outreach, PO Box 441014, Moscow, Idaho 83844-1014.
  • Office Hours: (see here)
  • 2:30-3:20, EP 204

• Class Handouts:
  • The handouts are ordered by sequence numbers and the material covered in the lectures are indicated next to the date. Specifically, the numbers in parentheses indicate the slides covered during class, i.e., [a/b-c/d] indicates that the material covered is from sequence a (slide b) to sequence c (to slide d).
  • If there are any problems with accessing the handouts, please let me know (email, phone, smoke signs, drums, ...)!
  • Corrections: some slides may contain formatting errors, typos etc. which have been addressed in class, but have not been reflected in the notes posted here.
  • The slides below are partially adapted from the instruction material supplied by the publisher of the text, which was provided by Lawrie Brown, UNSW@ADFA.
  • Syllabus.

  • Lecture 1 (01/15/20): [1/01-1/11] Sequence 1, (pdf), : Introduction
  • Lecture 2 (01/17/20): [1/12-2/07] Sequence 2, (pdf), : Basic principles: LAN, Circuit switching, packet switching, ATM, network configurations
  • Lecture 3 (01/22/20): [2/08-2/30] Protocol architectures, protocol stacks
  • Lecture 4 (01/24/20): [2/31-2/41] Sequence 3, (pdf), : TCP/IP protocol stack, [Reading assignment: RFC1180 - TCP/IP tutorial]
  • Lecture 5 (01/27/20): [3/01-3/13] Physical layer terminology
  • Lecture 6 (01/29/20): [3/14-3/34] Fourier analysis, Signal representation, attenuation, analog and digital signals and transmission
  • Lecture 7 (01/31/20): [3/35-3/45] Attenuation, distortion, noise, NEXT canceling, Nyquist and Shannon formulas Thermal noise, signal delay
  • Lecture 8 (02/03/20): [3/46-3/54] Sequence 4, (pdf), : Noise and its impacts
  • Lecture 9 (02/05/20): [4/01-4/28] Sequence 5, (pdf), : Transmission media basics, twisted pair, Coaxial cable,
  • Lecture 10 (02/07/20): [4/29-5/05] optical fiber, Wireless transmission (antennas, radiation pattern, parabolic reflection, microwave, satellite microwave, broadcast radio, infrared, wave propagation), Signal encoding background
  • Homework 1 is posted below
  • Lecture 11 (02/10/20): [5/06-5/22] Signal encoding techniques, Digital Data -Digital Signals (NRZ, Bipolar AMI, Pseudoternary, Manchester, Diff. Manchester)
  • Lecture 12 (02/12/20): [5/23-5/37] Manchester cont., B8ZS and HDB3, Signal modulation
  • Lecture 13 (02/14/20): [5/38-5/60] Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK), FSK, PSK, Spread Spectrum,... Digital Data - Analog Signal cont. (Binary FSK, Multiple FSK, QPSK, OQPSK, QAM)
  • Lecture 14 (02/19/20): [5/61-5/68] Sequence 6, (pdf), : Sampling Theorem, Pulse Amplitude Modulation (PAM), Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), Nonlinear Encoding
  • Lecture 15 (02/21/20): [5/69-6/04] Nonlinear Encoding, Delta Modulation, Analog Data - Analog Signals, Async and Sync. Transmission,
  • Lecture 16 (02/24/20): [6/05-6/20] asynchronous communication: Error detection,
  • Lecture 17 (02/26/20): [6/21-6/30] Sequence 7, (pdf), : Background [Interfacing specifications (mechanical, electrical, functional, procedural)] more on CRC: examples of CRC computations, hardware implementation
  • Lecture 18 (02/28/20): [6/31-7/33] finishing up CRC, Data link control, Background (physical layer, topology, half/full duplex, interfacing, e.g., V.24/EIA-232-F, mechanical - electrical - functional - procedural specification), Flow Control, data link basics.
  • Lecture 19 (03/02/20): [7/34-7/38] Data link basics, cont.
  • EXAM 1 (03/04/20) Closed notes, no calculator, no smart watch, etc., in-class exam. Covers material up to and including sequence 6. See old exams below!
  • Lecture 20 (03/06/20): [7/39-7/51] Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) analysis, Stop and wait, Go back N, Selective reject.
  • Lecture 21 (03/09/20): [7/52-8/04] Sequence 8, (pdf), : Utilization of data link, High Level Data Link Control (HDLC), multiplexing
  • Lecture 22 (03/11/20): [8/05-8/12] Multiplexing, Frequency Division Multiplexing systems (FDM), Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) and Dense WDM (DWDM), (Check out T-REC-G.694.1) Time Division Multiplexing (TDM), framing, pulse stuffing.
  • Lecture 23 (03/13/20): Project day. Class does not meet.
  • New chapter in this course. We will start on-line class delivery. I will be sending you an email soon about how we will do this.
  • Lecture 24(Recording 23) (03/23/20): [8/33-8/57] Sequence 9, (pdf), : Statistical TDM, Cable Modems, Discrete Multi-tone DMT,
  • Lecture 25(Recording 24) (03/25/20): [09/01-01/19] Switched Communication Networks, Circuit Switching (space division, time division), Blocking/non-blocking switches, Mulit-stage switches, Butterfly, Delta, Omega switch
  • Lecture 26(Recording 25) (03/27/20): [09/21-09/48] Delta, Omega switch, Control Signaling, Signaling functions, Packet-Switching Principle, Datagram, Virtual Circuits,
  • Lecture 27(Recording 26) (03/30/20): [09/49-10/14] Sequence 10, (pdf), : Cellular Wireless Networks, frequency reuse, propagation effects
  • Lecture 28(Recording 27) (04/01/20): [10/15-10/33, 17/01-17/07] Sequence 17, (pdf), : MIMO Antennas,
  • Lecture 29(Recording 28) (04/03/20): [17/08-17/26] OFDM, OFDMA, SC-FDMA, Spread Spectrum,
  • Lecture 30(Recording 29) (04/06/20): [17/26-17/40] DSSS (Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)
  • Lecture 31(Recording 30) (04/08/20): [10/34-10/65] Cellular Wireless Networks, generations 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, LTE, LTE-Advanced
  • Lecture 32(Recording 31) (04/10/20): [11/01-11/27] Sequence 11, (pdf), : Local Area Networks, topologies, LAN protocols architecture, bridges, hubs, switches, VLAN
  • Lecture 33(Recording 32) (04/13/20): [11/28-12/07] Sequence 12, (pdf), : Traditional Ethernet, Medium Access Control, IEEE 802.3 10-Mbps specification (Ethernet) IEEE 802.3 100-Mbps specification (Fast Ethernet) Gigabit, 10-Gbps and 100-Gbps Ethernet, IEEE 802.1Q VLAN
  • Exam 2 (04/15/20) (Recording34) The scope of material covered is from Sequence 7 to (and including) 10, and Sequence 17.
  • Lecture 34 (04/17/20): (Recording33) [12/08-12/40] Sequence 13, (pdf), : finishing up ethernet

  • Lecture 35 (04/20/20): 13/01-13/04] (Recording34) Wireless networks, Ad hoc networks and sensor networks
  • Lecture 36 (04/22/20): [13/05-13/20] (Recording35) Wireless networks cont., wireless LAN configuration and requirements, IEEE 802.11 architecture and services
  • Lecture 37 (04/24/20): [13/21-13/43] (Recording36) Sequence 14, (pdf), : Distributed coordination function DCF, IEEE 802.11b, a, g, n, ac, ad, the Internet Protocol

  • Lecture 38 (04/27/20): (Recording37) [13/44-14/07] Wireless LANs 802.11ac and 802.11ad, The Internet protocol.
  • Lecture 39 (04/29/20): (Recording38) [14/08-14/23] The Internet protocol cont.
  • Lecture 40 (05/01/20): (Recording39) [14/24-14/35] Sequence 15, (pdf), : Addressing in IPv4, netmask, Classless Inter-Domain Routing - CIDR, ICMP,

  • Lecture 41 (05/04/20): (Recording40) [14/36-15/45] ARP protocol, IPv6, IPsec, Transport Protocol, Flow control, credit scheme, retransmission, duplication, etc., TCP & UDP
  • Lecture 42 (05/06/20): (Recording41) [15/46-19/36] Sequence 19, (pdf), : Routing
  • Lecture 43 (05/08/20): finished

  • Final exam: Wednesday, May 13 from 3:00pm to 5:00pm (timed exam via bblearn). Material covered includes everything after last exam.

  • CS420/520 Homeworks/Exams:
    • HW1.pdf, Solutions.pdf
    • HW2.pdf, Solutions.pdf

  • CS420/520 old exam questions:
    • So you have an idea of what the exam looks like, here are some old ones. Note that some of the material covered in an old exam might not overlap with the material covered this term.
    • Exam 1 (16), (15),
    • Exam 2 (16), (15),
    • Exam 3 (16), (15),