Registry

Module Specifications

Current Academic Year 2012 - 2013
Please note that this information is subject to change.

Module Title	Performance of Data Networks
Module Code	EE500
School	School of Electronic Engineering
Online Module Resources
Module Co-ordinator	Semester 1: Gabriel-Miro Muntean Semester 2: Gabriel-Miro Muntean Autumn: Gabriel-Miro Muntean
NFQ level	8	Credit Rating	7.5
Pre-requisite	None
Co-requisite	None
Compatibles	None
Incompatibles	None

Description

The aim of the module is to introduce the students to advanced network performance concepts. The students will be reminded of the OSI and the TCP/IP models. They will be introduced to Quality of Service and Network Performance metrics as well as to Quality of Experience and Quality of Perception as metrics to assess the quality of data delivery. Various wired and wireless protocols will be introduced and their performance-related characteristics will, be discussed. These protocols will be presented at different layers of the OSI stack. At Datalink Layer WiFi (IEEE 802.11 family), WiMax (IEEE 802.16 family) and BlueTooth/UWB (IEEE 802.15) are briefly introduced before details are given about QoS-aware protocols or QoS solutions for IEEE 802.11e, IEEE 802.16e and IEEE 802.15.3, IEEE 802.15.4, UMTS. At network layer we will place emphasis on IPv4 vs IPv6, whereas at Transport Layer novel protocols such as DCCP, SCTP and others will be presented along with more established ones such as RTP and RTCP. At the Application Layer, multimedia and gaming applications will be discussed in details in the context of real-time content delivery, but other application types will also be presented. Adaptive and non-adaptive content delivery solutions will be presented along with significant issues such as end-user perceived quality. Novel performance-related issues such as mobility, power consumption and security will be presented.

Learning Outcomes

1. Demonstrate advanced knowledge of networking and performance of data networks in particular
2. Define network performance metrics, quality of service & experience
3. Present different performance-aware communications solutions at each layer
4. Present solutions for power saving, mobility and security
5. Demonstrate knowledge of modeling, simulations and prototyping

Workload	Full-time hours per semester
*Type*	*Hours*	*Description*
Lecture	36	No Description
Assignment	48	No Description
Assignment	104	No Description
Total Workload: 188

All module information is indicative and subject to change. For further information,students are advised to refer to the University's Marks and Standards and Programme Specific Regulations at: http://www.dcu.ie/registry/examinations/index.shtml

Indicative Content and Learning Activities

1) Introduction.
Review of Layered Network Architectures; Introduction to Data Network Performance; Quality of Service (QoS), Quality of Experience (QoE) and Network Performance Metrics – definitions, relationship and mapping between them.

2) Quality of Service Metrics.
Availability, Delivery, Latency, Bandwidth, MTBF (Mean TimeBetween Failure), MTRS (Mean Time to Restore Service), Power consumption, Mobility, Quality of Service - Cause and Effect; Solutions for Improving Quality of Service levels.

3) Network Performance Metrics.
Availability (Connectivity, Functionality), Loss (One way loss, round trip loss), Delay (One way delay, Round trip time, Delay variance), and Utilization(Capacity, bandwidth, Throughput), Power consumption (Power per Mbps).

4-5) Modeling and Simulations (1).
Introduction to using NS-2; Measuring Network performance metrics; Assessing Quality of Service.

6) User Perceived Quality of Service.
Type of services (Multimedia delivery, Real-time and interactive applications, Web applications, e-commerce, gaming) Quality of Experience and Quality of Perception.

7) Modeling and Simulations (2).
Building new NS-2 models; Measuring Quality of Experience; Estimating Quality of Perception.

8-9) Wired and Wireless CommunicationsProtocols and Standards.
Protocols and standards supporting different type of services and their performance-related characteristicsa) Data link Layer: Brief Introduction to WiFi (802.11), WiMax (802.16), Bluetooth and UWB (802.15); Details of QoS solutions or QoS-aware standards: IEEE 802.11e, IEEE 802.16e, IEEE 802.15.3 and IEEE 802.15.4, UMTSb) Network Layer: IPv4 vs IPv6c) Transport Layer: RTP, RTCP, SCTP, DCCP, TCP-SNOOP, Indirect-TCP, TCP-Wd) Application Layer: QOAS, LDA+.

10) Mobility Aspects.
Handover – vertical, horizontal, Protocols to support mobility: Mobile IP, SCTP, mDCCP, mSCTP, IEEE 802.21.

11) Power Consumption and Saving.
Energy savings solutions (e.g. IEEE 802.11 PSM); Security issues; Modelling and simulations.

12) Programming Performance-constraint Applications and Review.
Programming issues and Review.

Assessment Breakdown
Continuous Assessment	25%	Examination Weight	75%

Course Work Breakdown
Type	Description	% of total	Assessment Date
Project	n/a	25%	Week 29

Reassessment Requirement
Resit arrangements are explained by the following categories; 1 = A resit is available for all components of the module 2 = No resit is available for 100% continuous assessment module 3 = No resit is available for the continuous assessment component
This module is category 1

Indicative Reading List

C. Silva Ram Murthy, B. S. Manoj: 2004, Ad Hoc wireless networks, Prentice Hall/PTR, Upper Saddle River, NJ, ISBN 9780131470231
Kaveh Pahlavan, Prashant Krishnamurthy,: 2009, Networking Fundamentals, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-99289-0
Andrew Tanenbaum: 2010, Computer Networks, Prentice Hall, ISBN 9780132553179
Jeffrey G. Andrews, Arunabha Ghosh, Rias Muhamed: 2007, Fundamentals of WiMAX, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, ISBN 9780132225526
Douglas E. Comer: 2007, The Internet book, Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ, ISBN 9780132335539
Santiago Alvarez,: 2006, QoS for IP/MPLS Networks, Pearson Education, ISBN 9781587052330
Martin Sauter: 2008, Beyond 3G, Wiley, ISBN 978-0-470-75188-6

Other Resources

None

Array

Programme or List of Programmes

CAPD

PhD

CAPM

MSc

CAPT

PhD-track

ECSAO

Study Abroad (Engineering & Computing)