Prerequisite: CIS 100 or permission of instructor.

Summer 2011

Time:  Tuesdays 6:10pm-10:00pm

Location: Salazar Hall C362

Instructor:

Song Xing, Associate Professor of Information Systems
Office: Simpson Tower, Room 605
Phone: (323)343-2917
Email: sxing@calstatela.edu
Web:  http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/sxing

Office hours: Tuesdays 4:45pm-6:05pm. Send the Instructor email for the appointment of other times. 

Objectives: 
The purpose of this course is to enable students to build up a fundamental understanding of the technical issues and applications associated with a today's rapid-growing field, multimedia network communications. To help people discover the technologies from the personal communication devices like smartphones to the network systems like video conferencing, this course provides an introduction to multimedia networks and communications, including digital media representation and data compression, voice, video, and data convergence, media streaming, real-time interactive audio/video, high-speed multimedia networks considering protocols, techniques to improve QoS and security, distributed multimedia networking, multimedia databases, multimedia for the Web, multimedia seamless data exchange, and multimedia over wireless networks. Real-world examples including digital television, IPTV, mobile deployments, and digital cinema pipelines will be given to the class. Hands-on exercises will be assigned to help students to learn how to use various software programs to secure the computer and the network.

This course will also be of assistance to students who are looking to obtain the Network+ certification and the Certified Wireless Technology Specialist (CWTS) & Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA) foundation level certifications.

Textbook: There is no single textbook that covers all topics of interest. The text listed below is optional. Some chapters from the listed reference texts on the reference page of class web site will also be used as the course material.

• T. Dean, Network+ Guide to Networks, 5th Ed, Cengage Learning, 2010, ISBN: 1-4239-0140-1.

Tentative Topics:

1. Data and Computer Network Communications Overview, Multimedia Applications

2. The Internet and the Web, Search Engines, Web Hosting, Internet Access

3. Multimedia for the Web

4. Digitizing Audio and Video

5. Audio and Video Compression, Digital Media Representation, Multimedia Databases

6. Streaming Stored Audio and Video

7. Streaming Live Audio and Video: Internet Radio and IPTV

8. Real-Time Interactive Audio and Video: VoIP and Video Conferencing

9. Multimedia over High-Speed Networks

10. Improving Quality of Service (QoS) and Network Security

11. Wireless Multimedia

12. Multimedia Seamless Data Exchange

Grading:

There will be homework assignments, the mid-term exam, and the final exam. A final grade will be determined using the following weights: Homework 12%, Mid-term Exam 40%, Final Exam 45%, Class participation and attendance 3%.

Homework assignments must be done individually. Failure to do so will result in a violation of the Academic Honor Code. The following cases will be considered as violations: identical answers and extremely similar answers.

Make-up exams will be given and late assignments accepted only in unusual circumstances beyond the student's control. Arrangements for make-up exams or late assignments must be made in advance.

Attendance Policy:

Attendance is mandatory. Send the instructor (sxing@calstatela.edu) email in advance if you have to miss a class due to emergency or sickness.

Exams:

The tentative date for the mid-term is Jul 19, Tuesday, 6:10pm-8:10pm. The final exam is scheduled for Aug 30, Tuesday, 7:30pm-10:00pm.