The descriptions of core, specialization, cognate, and culminating experience courses are described.
Core Courses:
ITS 600: Research Methods in Communication Technology and Policy.Provides an overview of the field and introduces the students to the fundamentals of research, including the steps involved in identifying a research problem, how to formulate a problem statement, selection of appropriate research methodologies, accumulating and analyzing relevant empirical data, writing research results. The course will explain and analyze various research methods and tools, both quantitative and qualitative.
ITS 602: Regulation and Policy for Communication Networks. Introduction to the major theoretical and legal issues and debates that have shaped the communication network industry. Students will examine issues of anti-trust, common carrier regulation, and public utility law and will examine their impact on market outcomes and policy goals. The course also examines the impact of competition on the industry and its regulation.
ITS 625: Information Networks. Introduction to the architecture of information networks and the applications built on this architecture. Students study the fundamental concepts of communication networks, switching techniques, transmission systems, protocols, and distributed applications. Voice, data, image and video communication networks are all addressed.
ITS 644: Strategic Issues in Communication Technology and Policy. Employs extensive readings and illustrative case studies in the analysis of the strategic concerns involved in the successful deployment of voice, data and information technologies and services within user organizations and by vendor enterprises. The successful deployment of these technologies and services requires an understanding of the interplay of an array of policy considerations, technical concerns, human and social issues; this course provides students with the opportunity to grasp the interplay of these concerns and issues.
Policy Specialization Courses:
ITS 505: Competition and Market Structure in Network Industries. An examination of the development of competition in communication network industries, exploring the impact of competition on managerial decision making, market outcomes, and policy goals. Special emphasis is placed on the study of monopoly and oligopoly market structure and how management behavior is constrained in markets that are characterized by monopoly and oligopoly. Economic theory is used to provide answers to these questions. Addresses emerging antitrust issues in software and Internet markets; the use and appropriateness of market mechanisms to allocate radio-frequency spectrum in the public airwaves; price and non-price mechanisms to address congestion in data networks; and unique problems relating to the introduction of competition into the long distance market, specialized niche markets, and the local exchange market.
ITS 507: International Communication Networks. Critical review of the major issues involved in global communication networks and services. Examines the ways in which individual nations have chosen to deploy communication infrastructure and services; this examination includes the study of specific nation's communication industry and market structure, regulatory framework, technical constraints, pricing and tariff issues. The course also analyzes the impact that trade is having on the regulation and deployment of communication technology and services. International organizations like the World Trade Organization, the International Telecommunications Union, Intelsat, Inmarsat, and the European Union, and their importance to communication networks and services are also studied.
ITS 509: Communication and Economic Development. An examination of economic development issues and potential telecommunications strategies to assist in solving development problems. The problems of less developed countries will be studied, as well as the potential impact of communication networks and services on development in undeveloped pockets of the developed world. The course will also examine urban ills that exist in the developed areas of developed countries and will explore the potential role of communication networks to implement solutions to these urban ills. The course will also explore the potential role of communication networks on the development of global markets in the service sector and the impact of this trend on both developed and less developed nations.
ITS 603: Advanced Topics in Telecommunications Policy and Regulation. An advance exploration of advanced topics in telecommunications policy and regulation in the United States. Emphasis will be on primary sources, e.g., FCC and State Public Utility Commission Orders, appellate court decisions, and other documents. This elective course will build on the foundation provided by the required course, COMT 602. Subject matter will include state and federal activity related to local competition, access charge reform, regulation of broadband services, and spectrum management.
ITS 691: Topical Seminar. A focused, in-depth analysis of a significant current communication policy concerns. Students conduct a literature search of the policy issues surrounding the specific topic, develop a historical context for the issue under discussion, and produce a substantial paper analyzing an important aspect of the topic. Topics for the course will be current issues involving significant policy discussions. Potential topics include universal service/universal access to advanced technologies, the impact of regulatory change on service quality, and the issue of cost recovery by incumbent service providers.
Technical Specialization Courses:
ITS 520: Emerging Communication Technologies.An analysis of the latest advances in voice and data communication technologies, including the latest developments in transmission and switching, broadband network design and management, the latest protocol standards, and architectural developments in distributed computing and databases. The impact of new developments on network design, management, and administration is also addressed.
ITS 539: Communication Technology Lab Practicum. An extensive hands-on experience in voice and data communication technologies. Students analyze problems of both a managerial and a technical nature through extensive lab exercises. The course involves hands-on experience in posing, validating, and analyzing problems in switching and transmission technologies; network design, internetworking, protocol issues, distributed databases, and network management.
ITS 575: Internet Engineering.
ITS 577: Internet Infrastructure.
ITS 629: Theory of Network Management and Design. Covers the mathematical concepts of performance analysis and the design of data and voice networks. The course deals with queuing theory; performance modeling and simulation of data and voice networks; topology design of networks; capacity and channel allocation issues. Students will learn the theoretical and practical implications of various network management design problems and will analyze network and protocol simulations and performance issues.
ITS 679: Theory of Communication Networks. Provides the theoretical basics of information transfer and processing. Students learn the different algorithms and techniques of data, video, and image compression; they also discuss topics related to design and management of networks, as well as computer security issues. Specific topics addressed include communication theory, encoding techniques, wireless transmission issues, data, video, and image compression standards and algorithms, authentication and encryption standards and algorithms.
Cognate Courses:
The student will select these courses in consultation with his/her advisor.
Thesis/Professional Project/Comprehensive Examination:
Students electing the comprehensive examination select one of the following two courses:
ITS 614: Advanced Readings in Communication Technology. Requires extensive reading, under the direction of a faculty member, in such issues as voice and data network design; traffic analysis and performance monitoring of networks; capacity and routing issues; protocol stands in LAN, WAN, and high speed networks; internetworking issues; design and protocol issues in wireless networks; compression schemes; network security standards; network management standards; speech recognition; distributed database design and optimization; and computer telephony integration.
ITS 615: Advanced Readings in Communication Policy. Focuses on topical readings under the direction of a faculty member. In addition to the readings selected by the faculty member, students are required to do further research in a specialized area of interest to the student.
Students selecting a Professional Project or Thesis will select COMT 685 or COMT 695, respectively:
ITS 685: Professional Project. This course requires students to complete an applied project, under the supervision of an advisor and a faculty committee, as a demonstration of the student's mastery of the skills and knowledge covered in the program.
ITS 695: Thesis. Requires students to identify a problem or issue in the field, conduct relevant research, and write a thesis resulting from this work. The thesis provides students, working under the supervision of an advisor and a faculty committee, with an opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the field.
