1. Course Information
CSE 3213 – Fall 2011

2. Instructor U. T. Nguyen /new-yen/ Office: CSEB-2024
Office hours:
Tuesday, 14:00-15:00
Thursday, 14:00-15:00
By appointment in special cases
Home page:
Course web site:

3. Textbook
Data and Computer Communications (9th edition) by William Stallings , Prentice Hall (2010) Note: 8th edition may be used, but students are responsible for matching sections and exercise problems between the two versions Recommended reference: Communication Networks: Fundamental Concepts and Key Architectures (2nd edition) by Alberto Leon-Garcia McGraw-Hill Companies

4. Grading Scheme 10% - Quizzes (2) 5% - Assigned reading and project
30% - Midterm test
55% - Final exam
There will also be 2 assignments, but they will not be graded. However, many questions in the quizzes will be similar to or based on assignment questions.
Assigned reading will be chapters in the textbook that discuss standards (e.g., HDLC, IEEE physical layer, IPv6).
will not be on quizzes, midterm test or final exam, but ...
short exercises based on these chapters will be given and graded.

5. Test and Exam Policy
You are allowed to miss a test/exam only under extraordinary circumstances.
If the reason is sickness, your doctor must fill in the Attending Physician's Statement form. Only this form, completely and properly filled, will be accepted.
There is NO make up test. The weight of the first quiz will be transferred to the second quiz. The weight of the midterm test or the second quiz will be transferred to the final exam.
All quizzes, test and exam are closed-book tests. No books, notes or calculators are allowed during a test/exam.
All assignments, test and exam are individual work. Plagiarism and cheating are not tolerable.

6. Useful Suggestions
When sending s to the instructor or TA, please indicate "CSE 3213" in the subject line (e.g., "CSE Lecture notes unreadable").
For questions related to course materials, it is best to come to the office hours. is not a good way to explain the materials.
Attend the lectures! The lecture notes give only outlines of the lectures. Details and additional information will be given in class.
This course is heavy! Read the lecture notes and the textbook before and again right after each lecture.
Work on suggested homework problems.

7. Course Content
This course is an introduction to communications and networking.
Distinction between information and data, between signal and data, between symbol and data, and between analogue and digital data
Transmission media; time domain and frequency domain
Fundamental limits due to Shannon and Nyquist
TCP/IP protocol suite
Encoding of analogue/digital data as analogue/digital signals
Data link protocols; error and flow control
Local area networks
Medium access control: Ethernet and WiFi
Routing of packets in networks
Internetworking

8. Your First Homework
Read all the pages and links on the course web site.

9. Any questions?