The current and official versions of the course specifications are available on the web at .
Please consult the web for updates that may occur during the year.
Computing and data communications have converged, such that data communications has become an integral part of many computer systems. This course is based around two central themes. The first is the logical extension of the material covered in the preceding Computer Engineering courses. This involves a more detailed study of advanced computer design and operating system topics including memory management, virtual memory, process management, cache memory, processor architectures and performance. The second theme is the design, implementation and use of data communication systems. This section, comprising approximately two-thirds of the course, covers local area network protocols such as Ethernet, together with higher-level protocols such as TCP/IP. An in-depth understanding of the theoretical and practical operation of these protocols and the Internet is emphasised by implementation examples.
