Academic management

Network and Systems Architecture is a course planned for the second semester of the second year of the Bachelor´s Degree in Telecommunication Technologies and Services Engineering. This course belongs to the Network and Computer Architecture module of the said degree. It is the second compulsory course of this module.

The course consists of 2 hours per week of lectures, 2 hours per week of laboratory lessons, 7 hours of classroom practices and 2 hours of group tutorials.

In the curriculum, this course clearly follows the Fundamentals of Telematics course planned for the first term of the second year of the degree. Furthermore, Network and Systems Architecture is key for the Key Communication Services course in the third year of the degree.

There are no strict specific requirements to register for this course. Nevertheless, it is advisable to have a general knowledge about protocols, architectures, and the lowest levels in the OSI stack. These concepts are developed in the Fundamentals of Telematics course, which is part of the same module and taught during the first semester of the second year of the degree.

It is expected that students develop the general competences which follow, either totally or partially if combined with other courses in the degree:

• CG3. Knowledge of basic topics and technologies, enabling the student to learn new methods and technologies as well as providing him or her versatility enough to adapt to new situations.
• CG4. Ability to solve problems with initiative, taking decisions, with creativity, and ability to communicate and transmit knowledge and skills, understanding the ethics and professional responsibility of the activity of a graduated in Telecommunication Engineering.
• CG5. Knowledge to perform measurements, calculations, valuations, technical reports, task plans and other similar works in the specific field of telecommunications.
• CG.6. Easiness to work with specifications, regulations, and compulsory rules.
• CG.9. Capability to work within a multidisciplinary team in a multilingual environment and to communicate, both orally and in a written document, knowledge, procedures, results and ideas related to telecommunications and electronics.

Similarly, it is expected that after the conclusion of the course students had developed the Telecommunications competences which follow, either totally or partially if combined with other courses in the degree:

• CR2. Capability to use communication and informatic applications (office automation, data bases, advanced calculus, project management, visualization, etc.) to develop and operate networks, services and applications related to telecommunications and electronics.
• CR3. Capability to use informatic tools to search for bibliographic materials or information related to telecommunications and electronics.
• CR6. Capability to design, deploy, organise and manage networks, services and telecommunication infrastructures both in a residential (home, city and digital communities), entrepreneurial, and institutional contexts, accepting the responsibility of setting them in motion and continuously improving them, as well as to being aware of their social and economic impact.
• CR12. Knowledge and usage of concepts related to network architectures, protocols and communication interfaces.
• CR13. Capability to differentiate the concepts of link and transport networks, circuit and packet switching networks, mobile and fixed-line networks, and distributed systems and network applications, voice services, data, audio, video and interactive multimedia systems.
• CR14. Knowledge of network interconnection and routing methods, as well as of the fundaments of planning and dimensioning of networks according to certain traffic parameters.

Said competences may be detailed and specified through the specific learning outcomes which follow:

• RA-7.9. Identify local area network topologies, name the suitable protocols and explain their functioning.
• RA-7.10. Analyse, carry out and determine the most relevant information in the development of projects related to the different topics covered in the course.
• RA-7.13. Explain congestion control techniques.
• RA-7.14. Describe routing algorithms.
• RA-7.15. Classify network architectures according to their purpose.
• RA-7.18. Know routing and network interconnection methods.
• RA-7.20. Analyse and evaluate routing protocols using informatic tools.
• RA-7.21. Create and use real network models using network simulators.

Unit 1: Review of the Physical and Link Layers.

Unit 2: The Network Layer:

• Functions, organization and services offered.
• Routing algorithms.
• Congestion control techniques.
• Packet switching networks.
  • X.25.
  • Frame Relay.
  • ATM.
  • MPLS.

Unit 3: The TCP/IP Architecture:

• Addressing.
  • Class based.
  • VLSM / CIDR.
• Protocol families.
  • Network access: ARP.
  • Internet: IP, ICMP.
  • Transport: TCP, UDP
  • Application: DNS, HTTP.

Unit 4: Network Interconnection:

• Autonomous systems.
• Interior and exterior routing protocols: RIP, OSPF, BGP.
• Multicast: IGMP.
• Quality of Service and traffic specification.

Unit 5: Introduction to broadband Access Networks.

Laboratory activities are focused on the topics covered by units 2, 3 and 4. They are mainly based on the deployment of local area networks with real equipment.

The course has both classroom and self-learning activities. Classroom activities include lectures, classroom practices and laboratory practices. Also, self-learning activities include tasks which must be carried out individually by each student..

General assessment criteria:

The final grade of the course will take into account the blocks which follow

• Assessment of lectures (Nt)
• Assessment of laboratory practices (Np)

Students must succeed in both blocks to pass the course, with a grade equal to or greater than 5 points out of 10. In any other case, the maximum possible grade would be 4,5 points out of 10. If both blocks are passed, the final grade of the course is calculated with the following equation:

The grades of succeded blocks are kept between calls of the same year.

Specific criteria for the ordinary call:

Apart from the aforementioned general assessment criteria, the assessment in the ordinary call has the following specific rules:

• Assessment of lectures (Nt): During the semester, several tests will be performed during the classes. The grade will be obtained with the mean value of the grades of each of these tests, only if all of them have a grade equal to or greater than 4 points out of 10. In any other case, the maximum possible grade would be 4,5 points out of 10. If the final grade is below 5 points, the student must attend to a final exam as scheduled by the Faculty.
• Assessment of laboratory practices (Np): To pass this block of the course, students must attend to a minimum of 80% of the lab sessions. The grade of this block is calculated with the following equation:

Being Nap the average grade of the different activities that will be proposed to the students during the semester and Nep the grade of a final laboratory exam which will take place after the final theory exam as scheduled by the Faculty.

Rest of calls:

Apart from the aforementioned general assessment criteria, the assessments in calls different to the ordinary call, have the following specific rules:

• Assessment of lectures (Nt): The grade of a final theory exam as scheduled by the Faculty.
• Assessment of laboratory practices (Np): The grade of a final laboratory exam which will take place after the final theory exam as scheduled by the Faculty.

Differentiated assessment:

Differentiated assessment will take place following the said criteria. Nevertheless, students under this regulation do not have specific attendance requirements in the ordinary call.

Basic bibliography:

• Data and Computer Communications, William Stallings, Pearson.
• Computer Networks, Andrew S. Tanenbaum, Pearson.
• Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet, James F. Kurose, Addison Wesley.
• TCP/IP: Architecture, Protocols and Implementation, Sidnie Feit, Mc-Graw Hill.

Other bibliography:

• References to standards available on the Internet.

Necessary resources:

• A personal computer with Internet connection, used to access the Course Moodle and Internet documents, as well as to carry out individual activities. The software needed to attend the course will be provided.