Department of Engineering & Science

Graduate Certificate in Computer Network Communications

• to provide solid master's level course work in the subject area of digital data transmission and communications
  
• to provide current and up-to-date knowledge on Local and Wide area networks
  
• to provide the exposure to the management of computer networks

This fundamental knowledge will have lasting value as communication networks evolve, yet provide a valuable "professional edge" for today's engineers and scientists.

Who is the Computer Network Communications Certificate Program for?

• Engineers and scientists involved in design or implementation of computer networks (WANs, MANs, or LANs).
  
• Network systems analysts and operations personnel who will need technical knowledge as well as exposure to the theory of data communications.
  
• Returning M.S. graduates who want to expand and maintain their knowledge of network communications.
  
• New graduate students with an immediate interest in data communications.

The Computer Network Communications Certificate is designed to provide technical knowledge relevant to the field of digital data communications including wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs) and the management of an enterprise-wide computer network. The Computer Network Communications certificate comprises the following courses:

ECSE-4670 Computer Communication Networks
A first course in computer communications which introduces the problems, solutions, and limitations associated with interconnecting computers by communication networks (LAN or WAN ). The seven layer ISO Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model serves as a framework for the course with major emphasis on the physical layer standards, data link protocols, network and transportation layer protocols. Topics include: modems, baseband and broadband communications, HDLC, Ethernet and token ring LANs, cell and frame relay networks, bridges, routers, services of the upper layers (Session, Presentation, Application), and network security.

And any Three of the following courses:

CISH-6220 LANs, MANs, and Internetworking
Explores the current capabilities and trends in Local Area and Metropolitan Area Networks (LANs and MANs) with additional focus on the issues of internetworking network systems or subnets. Topics include: Topologies and transmission media, LAN and MAN architectures and performance. LAN standards IEEE 802.x and ANSI standard FDDI. Circuit switched local area networks, e.g. ATM, Fibre Channel. Internetworking alternatives, bridges, network switches, routers and gateways. General LAN management tools. Prerequisite: ECSE-4670.

CISH-6230 Network Management
Introduction to methods, techniques and tools for the management of telecommunication systems and networks with specific examples from Internet SNMP, SNMPv2, RMON RMON2 and the OSI/ISO based CMIS/CMIP. Issues to be addressed include: configuration and name management, fault and performance management, security, and accounting management. Other topics such as regulatory and legal issues of network systems may be discussed. Prerequisite: ECSE-4670 and (CISH-6220 or ECSE-6660).

CISH-6960 Cryptography and Network Security
The course introduces the principles of number theory and the practice of network security and cryptographic algorithms. Topics include: Primes, random numbers, modular arithmetic and discrete logarithms. Conventional or symmetric encryption (DES, IDEA, Blowfish, Twofish, Rijndael) and public key or asymmetric encryption (RSA, Diffie-Hellman), key management, hash functions (MD5, SHA-1, RIPEMD-160, HMAC), digital signatures, certificates and authentication protocols (X.509, DSS, Kerberos), electronic mail security (PGP, S/MIME), web security and protocols for secure electronic commerce (IPSec, SSL, TLS, SET).

ECSE-6660 Broadband Networks
An investigation of the ethical issues and principles in the design of high data rate, integrated services networks that must provide global access to a wide range of services such as video on demand, multimedia, and virtual reality. The Broadband Integrated Services Digital Networks (B-ISDN) reference model and Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) are described in detail. Topics include high-speed switching architectures, network management and control, and modeling and analysis of high-speed networks. Prerequisite: ECSE-4670.

Successful students begin the certificate program with a knowledge of algebra, calculus, basic probability, discrete mathematics, and exposure to graph theory. Knowledge of currently used and popular programming languages is useful, although the certificate program does not demand programming skills.

For further information please contact the
Certificate Program Coordinator:
Roger Brown
Email: brownr@rpi.edu,
Phone: (860) 548-2462

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