Telecommunications (Graduate)

Course Description

TCN5010 — Telecommunications (Graduate) is a graduate-level (5xxx) college-credit course in Florida's M.S. Telecommunications, M.S. Information Technology, or related programs. The "TCN" prefix denotes Telecommunications. The course covers contemporary telecommunications: telecommunications networks (LAN, MAN, WAN); transmission technologies (fiber, wireless, copper); routing and switching; quality of service; network security; cloud and edge computing; SDN/NFV; current standards; emerging technologies (5G, 6G, IoT). The course balances technical depth with management/strategic perspective appropriate for telecommunications professionals.

This course is offered at Florida public universities with telecommunications or IT graduate programs.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

Upon successful completion of TCN5010, students will be able to:

• Apply telecommunications network architecture: OSI 7-layer and TCP/IP 4-layer models; LAN/MAN/WAN distinctions; access network, metro, core network roles.
• Apply transmission technologies: optical fiber (single-mode, multi-mode); wireless (cellular, WiFi, satellite); copper (twisted pair, coaxial, DSL); transmission impairments and capacity.
• Apply routing and switching: Layer 2 switching; Layer 3 routing (OSPF, IS-IS, BGP); MPLS; SDN routing.
• Apply quality of service (QoS): traffic classification; queuing disciplines; congestion management; differentiated services; integrated services.
• Apply network security: firewall types; VPN technologies (IPsec, TLS, SD-WAN); zero-trust principles; threat detection.
• Apply cloud and edge computing: cloud service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS); deployment models; edge computing; impact on telecommunications.
• Apply software-defined networking (SDN) and NFV: SDN architecture; OpenFlow; controllers; NFV orchestration; impact on traditional telco operations.
• Describe current cellular standards: 4G LTE; 5G NR architecture (NSA, SA); 5G use cases; 6G research directions.
• Describe IoT and emerging technologies: cellular IoT (NB-IoT, LTE-M); LPWAN (LoRa, Sigfox); industrial IoT; smart cities applications.

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Network Architectures: OSI and TCP/IP models; access, metro, core network roles; service provider vs. enterprise; cloud-native architectures.
• Transmission: Optical fiber (DWDM, ROADM); wireless (cellular, WiFi, satellite); copper (DSL, DOCSIS); transmission line theory; capacity and Shannon limit.
• Switching and Routing: Ethernet switching; spanning tree; VLANs; routing protocols (OSPF, IS-IS, BGP); MPLS; SDN flow programming.
• QoS: Traffic classification (DiffServ); queuing (FIFO, PQ, WFQ); congestion management (RED, WRED); SLA management.
• Network Security: Firewalls (stateful, NGFW); VPNs (IPsec, SSL/TLS, SD-WAN); zero-trust architecture; threat detection (IDS/IPS); current threat landscape.
• Cloud and Edge: Public, private, hybrid clouds; major providers (AWS, Azure, GCP); edge computing architectures; multi-access edge computing (MEC) for 5G.
• SDN and NFV: SDN architecture (data plane, control plane, application plane); OpenFlow; SDN controllers (ONOS, OpenDaylight); NFV orchestration (ETSI NFV reference architecture).
• Cellular Standards: 4G LTE (EPC, eNB, UE); 5G NR (5GC, gNB); 5G use cases (eMBB, URLLC, mMTC); 6G research themes.
• IoT: Cellular IoT (NB-IoT, LTE-M, RedCap); LPWAN (LoRa, Sigfox); short-range (Zigbee, Bluetooth, Thread); IoT platforms; industrial IoT.

Resources & Tools

• Industry texts: Andrew Tanenbaum and David Wetherall Computer Networks (Pearson); James F. Kurose and Keith W. Ross Computer Networking (Pearson)
• 3GPP technical specifications; IEEE 802.x standards; IETF RFCs; ITU-T recommendations
• Industry publications: IEEE Communications Magazine; Light Reading; FierceTelecom
• Lab tools: GNS3, EVE-NG, Mininet for SDN; Wireshark

Career Pathways

TCN5010 supports advanced careers in telecommunications:

• Telecommunications Engineer / Architect at carrier networks (T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, regional carriers).
• Network Architect at enterprises and service providers.
• Cloud Network Engineer at major cloud providers and customers.
• Security Architect for telecommunications and enterprise networks.
• Solutions Engineer at network equipment manufacturers (Cisco, Juniper, Nokia, Ericsson).
• Continuation toward Ph.D. or industry research roles.

Special Information

Course Format

Typically 3 credits, 45 contact hours (lecture/seminar). Substantial outside-class reading and project work.

Graduate-Level Status

TCN5010 is graduate-level (5xxx) and is restricted to admitted M.S. or Ph.D. students in Telecommunications, IT, EE, CompE, or related programs.

Industry Currency

Telecommunications technologies evolve rapidly. Coursework references current standards (3GPP Release 17/18, Wi-Fi 7, current cloud architectures) and emerging research (6G, AI/ML for networks).