Computer System & communication Protocols

Assessment: Project

Motivation and Outcomes

In a workplace, you will rarely encounter a situation where one has to sit an exam and reproduce material that has been studied over an extended period of time. It is more likely that a new topic has to researched and presented to colleagues, clients or the boss as an oral presentation or a written report.

It has been widely acknowledged that many students will work in jobs that are not known yet. In education, the focus is no longer solely on content but also on skills that prepare students for rapidly changing environments. It is expected that engineering professionals are able to acquire knowledge, as it is warranted.

Generic and transferable skills are also gaining importance and are seen as essential by employers and professional bodies such as Engineers Australia and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). These include, but are not limited to, lifelong learning, communication and decision-making.

This assignment gives you the opportunity to practice these skills. Learning outcomes include:

• Researching one topic in computer systems or communication protocols.

• Developing a deep understanding of one topic.

• Practising the skills of explaining concepts to others.

• Improving presentation skills.

• Advancing report writing skills.

• Broaden your content knowledge about selected topics in computer systems or communication protocols.

To address these outcomes, the assignment incorporates three activities:

• A written report.

• An oral presentation.

• Peer assessment of other student submissions.

Topics

This assignment covers computer systems and communication protocol topics. A tentative listing of topics is shown below. A comprehensive list of topics and their presentation timeslots will be published on StudyDesk. Each student has to choose one topic.

Computer Systems: Approximate Computing, C#, Cloud Computing, Distributed Systems, GNU GPL, Java, OLPC/XO, Open CL, PHP, PLC Internals, Python, Quantum Computing, Server Systems, Shell Scripting, Smart Cards, SQL, Virtualisation and Virtual Machines.

Operating Systems: Android Operating System, Linux History (technical), Mac OS History (technical), Windows History ( technical ).
Storage Management: CD, DVD, Blu-ray, Disk Backup, Disk encryption, ext2/ext3/ext4, NTFS, RAID, Solid State HDDs.

Memory Management: RAM technologies.

Hardware & Performance: Benchmarking, DirectX, MMX/3DNow!/SSE, OpenGL, Processor History (AMD - technical), Processor History (Intel - technical), RISC & CISC.

Network Protocols and Layering: Compare Circuit and Packet Switched Networks, National Broadband Network, Network Resilience, OSI Model, Quality of Experience, Quality of Service, Standards and Organisations.

Local Networks: ADSL, ATM (networking), Deterministic Networking, EPON, Industrial Ethernet, ISDN, Last Mile Access, MODBUS, Satellite Broadband, SONET/SDH, WiMax, Wireless Broadband ( UMTS ).

Wireless and Mobile Networks: 5G Wireless Networks, Ad-Hoc Networks, Backhaul, Mobile IP, WiFi, ZigBee.

Network Security and Configuration: Botnets, Computer Viruses, Cryptanalysis and Passwords, Denial-of-Service Attacks, Firewalls, Malware, Man-in-the-Middle Attacks, Online Security, Virtual Private Networks.

Addressing and Transport: Border Gateway Routing Protocol, Intra Domain Routing Protocols, IPv6, MPLS, NetBIOS, Network Routers, SCTP, TCP.

Applications and Protocols: Ajax, Domain Name System, ftp protocol, http protocol, NFS, P2P Networks, SAMBA, VoIP.

Technical Depth

Presentation

The presentation has to be delivered on the date specified in the topic table. The talk should be timed to 10 minutes. An additional 5 minutes per presentation are allocated for questions. The presentations are scheduled as part of the normal class time.

The requirements for off-campus students are the same as they are for on-campus students. However, presentations have to be pre-recorded and might be played on campus in the appropriate timeslot. A screen capture application can be used do record the presentation. Please see the appendix for details on how to record presentations.

It is expected the talk uses presentation software such as PowerPoint. At least the following slides should be included:

• Cover

• Content

• Background

• Main Content

• Conclusions

• Short quiz for the audience Keep the following in mind:

• Introduce self.

• Make sure you understand your topic.

• Practice your presentation - use your husband/wife, friend, colleague, pet, ...

• Keep it interesting.

• Use diagrams and pictures.

• Anticipate questions.

• Do not go overtime.

• The fear of public speaking is very common and your peers probably feel the same.

Appendix 1 - Recording Presentations with CamStudio

• Download and install CamStudio 2.7: http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/m2/mod/ resource/view.php?id=340811

• Download and install the Xvid codec: http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/m2/mod/ resource/view.php?id=340809

• Download and install the LAME mp3 codec: http://usqstudydesk.usq.edu.au/ m2/mod/resource/view.php?id=340812

Extract the file, right-click on the LameACM.inf and select install.

• Download and install 7zip: http://www.7-zip.org/download.html

Have a look at CamStudio and its various options. There is a lengthy video tutorial available on how to use CamStudio:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQ5_6szOf48 For your actual recording, please use the following options:

• Select Options ? Video Options. A popup will open.

• Select Xvid MPEG-4 Codec as the Compressor.

• Click "Configure"

• In the new configuration window, click "Other Options..."

• Untick "Display encoding status"

• Click "OK"

• Click "OK"

• Set the Quality to 100

• Make sure Auto Adjust is NOT ticked.

• Change Capture Frame Every to 200 milliseconds.

• Change Playback Rate to 5 frames/second. See Figure 1

• Select Options ? Audio Options ? Audio Options for Microphone

• Set the Recording Format to 22.05 kHz, mono, 16 bit

• Choose Compressed Format ? Lame MP3

• Select Options ? Record Audio from Microphone

• Select Region ? Full Screen

Page

This should do the trick.

Figure 1: Video Options

Before you start CamStudio to do you recording, please reduce your screen resolution to 600x800.

Please compress the file with 7-Zip before it is submitted. Select the following options:

• Archie format: 7 z

• Compression level: Ultra

• Compression method: LZMA

• Dictionary size: 64 MB, Word size: 256.