MEng Mechatronic Engineering with Industrial Experience / Course details

Year of entry: 2024

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Course unit details:
Data Networking

Course unit fact file
Unit code	EEEN30111
Credit rating	10
Unit level	Level 3
Teaching period(s)	Semester 1
Available as a free choice unit?	No

Overview

Brief description of the course unit:

Introduction to Network Protocol Stacks. General requirements, resource sharing, multiplexing, layered network architecture, program interfacing. ISO/OSI reference model, 5-layer model.

Direct Link Networks. System properties of physical media. Bandwidth, latency, trip-time concepts and “keeping the pipe” full. Nodes and links, link encoding, data frame protocols and error protection. Reliable transmissions and use of automatic repeat request protocols and sliding window algorithm.

Local Area Networks. Ethernet (IEEE 802.3), Wireless LAN (IEEE 802.11, IEEE 802.15), physical structures, access protocol and operational properties.

Packet Switching. Reliable vs. unreliable connections, datagrams, network switching, virtual circuits, store-and-forward concepts. LAN switches, routing algorithms. Unicast, multicast and broadcast concepts.

Internetworking. The Internet Protocol (IPv4) – service model, datagrams, addressing, host configuration and error reporting. Routing algorithms (distance vector, link state) and routing metrics. Concepts of sub-netting and classless routing.

End-to-End Protocols. Unreliable (UDP) and reliable (TCP) protocols, segment formats, connection establishment and termination, sliding window and adaptive retransmission.

Domain Naming and Hierarchies. The Domain Name System.

Embedded Systems Networks. Specific requirements and design issues of embedded systems networks: topologies, protocols, robustness, error handling. Synchronous and asynchronous protocols. Examples of embedded systems networks: I2C, SPI, CAN, LIN.

Coding of digital data. Hamming codes, parity, CRC and IP checksums.

Network Security. Cryptographic algorithms: symmetric key, public key, message digest. Security services: privacy, authentication, integrity control, non-repudiation.

Pre/co-requisites

Unit title	Unit code	Requirement type	Description
Microcontroller Engineering II	EEEN20011	Pre-Requisite	Compulsory

Aims

Provide an introduction to data networking, examining in depth the TCP/IP protocol suite for computer-to-computer communication, and serial data link protocols in embedded systems networking.

Learning outcomes

ILO 1 Describe the operation of TCP/IP and selected embedded systems protocols.

ILO 2 Calculate quantities associated with selected TCP/IP protocols, including, but not limited to, congestion and data flow rates.

ILO 3 Calculate properties of wired and wireless networks, including, but not limited to, data rates, subnet addresses, and transmission and propagation times.

ILO 4 Calculate selected protocol checksums, including, but not limited to CRC and 1s complement checksums, and Hamming coding schemes.

ILO 5 Describe and analyse simple packet-switched networks and the operation of selected routing algorithms.

ILO 6 Apply selected security protocols to example networks and calculate values of shared, secret and public keys.

ILO 7 Describe and analyse Application Layer protocols and schemes, including the DNS.

Teaching and learning methods

19 Lectures, 1 Introductory Lab, 7 Worked Tutorial Sheets (online).

Assessment methods

Method	Weight
Other	20%
Written exam	80%

Coursework

Implement a simple wired protocol using an ARM-based microcontroller over an I2C bus.

Coursework forms 20% of the unit assessment

Feedback methods

Study hours

Scheduled activity hours
Lectures	19
Practical classes & workshops	3

Independent study hours
Independent study	78

Teaching staff

Staff member	Role
Fumie Costen	Unit coordinator
Frank Podd	Unit coordinator

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