The University of Texas at Dallas

School of Management

BA 4323 Syam Menon

Business Data Communications Autumn 2007

Syllabus

Office SOM 3.421

Phone (972) 883–4779
E-mail syam@utdallas.edu

Class Hours Mondays, 7:00 p.m. – 9:45 p.m. (SOM 2.901)

Office Hours Mondays, 5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m., and by appointment

Text Book Business Data Communications & Networking, 9th Edn

by Fitzgerald and Dennis (John Wiley & Sons); ISBN: 978-0-471-77116-6

Outline This course will introduce the basic concepts underlying voice and data communications,
local area networks, wide area networks, and the Internet. It is intended to make you
aware of various data communications technologies, and to enable you to make informed
decisions regarding them.

Handouts Check WebCT often. You are expected to have all handouts with you when you come
to class. You are responsible for this material irrespective of attendance.

Examinations Three comprehensive, closed-book, closed-notes examinations will be given in

class during specified days. Only a pen or pencil is allowed during examinations.
The first two examinations will each be worth 20% of the final grade; the
third examination will count towards 30% of the final grade. The tentative
examination schedule is:

Examination Date
01 Sep 24, 2007
02 Nov 05, 2007
03 Dec 03, 2007

If you miss either of the first two examinations, the weight of the missed
examination will be added on to the weight of the third examination. That
is, the weight on the third examination will be 50% for students missing one
of the first two examinations while it will be 70% for students missing both
of the first two examinations. Make-up examinations will not be available.

Quizzes Six 30 minute, closed-book, closed-notes quizzes will be assigned over the course of
the semester. Only a pen or pencil is allowed during quizzes. I will select the
best 4 scores of each student; each selected quiz will be worth 5% of the final
grade. The tentative quiz schedule is:

Quiz Date Quiz Date Quiz Date

01 Aug 27 02 Sep 10 03 Sep 17
04 Oct 08 05 Oct 15 06 Nov 19

Make-up quizzes will not be available.

BA 4323 - Business Data Communications Autumn 2007
Syam Menon page 2

Grades Grades will be assigned according to the table below. I may adjust the final cut-offs appropri-
ately based on the degree of difficulty of the graded material.

Score Grade Score Grade Score Grade

≥ 95% A+ ≥ 90% & < 95% A ≥ 87.5% & < 90% A-
≥ 85% & < 87.5% B+ ≥ 80% & < 85% B ≥ 77.5% & < 80% B-
≥ 75% & < 77.5% C+ ≥ 70% & < 75% C ≥ 67.5% & < 70% C-
≥ 65% & < 67.5% D+ ≥ 60% & < 65% D ≥ 57.5% & < 60% D-
< 57.5% F
Comments • You are responsible for any announcements made in class. This includes any al-
terations to the tentative schedule. You are also responsible for material distributed in class,
through WebCT and via the class web page.
• Only a pen or pencil is allowed during examinations and quizzes.
• Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary proceedings as noted in the stu-
dent catalog at http://www.utdallas.edu/student/catalog/undergrad07/app1.html.

Tentative Course Outline

Material Chapter Week Dates Quiz/Exam

Introduction 1 1 08/20/07
Introduction; Application Layer 1, 2 2 08/27/07 q01
University Holiday 09/03/07
Application and Physical Layers 2, 3 3 09/10/07 q02
Physical Layer 3 4 09/17/07 q03/review
5 09/24/07 exam 01
Data Link Layer 4 6 10/01/07
Network and Transport Layers 5 7 10/08/07 q04
Network and Transport Layers; LANS 5, 6 8 10/15/07 q05
LANS; Wireless LANS; Cellular Networks 6, 7, extra 9 10/22/07
Cellular Networks; Backbone Networks 7, extra, 8 10 10/29/07 review
11 11/05/07 exam 02
MANS, WANS, Internet (time permitting) 8, 9, 10 12 11/12/07
Network Security 11 13 11/19/07 q06
Network Design 12 14 11/26/07 review
15 12/03/07 exam 03