• Transmission and Multiplexing Over Analog and Digital Networks
• Why Frame Relay is Vitally Important to Many Organizations Today
• The Basics of Audio, Graphics, Image, and Video Transmission
• What Broadband Networks Are, and the Role ATM Plays With Them
• The Different Services Offered Over Wireless Data Networks
• How Telecommunications and the Internet Have Changed the Way Organizations Function
• The Evolving Role of Residential Broadband Networks (RBB) and How It Will Change the Way We Live and Work
• How Satellites Are Being Used to Rapidly Transmit Video and Data

1. The Need to Communicate
Entities that utilize communications services
Government
Commercial
Residential
Education
Healthcare
Applications used in data communications networks
Standard applications
Services
Differentiating carriers from other service providers
Local access carriers
Transport (backbone) carriers
Application service providers
Internet service providers
Key ingredients of public carriers
Rights-of-way
Infrastructure
Know how 

Customer premises equipment and connectivity
Types of customer equipment
Voice and data networks
Connecting to carrier/service provider networks
Comparing leased lines, circuit switching, and packet switching
Leased (private) lines
Circuit switched
Packet switched

2. Data Communications in a Telecom World
Protocol defined
Network communications
Internetwork communications
Connection-oriented vs. connectionless services
Example of connection-oriented service
Example of connectionless service
OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) Model
Modular design approach
Description of OSI layer functions
Packaging and transmitting messages
TCP/IP protocol suite
OSI layer functions compared
TCP/IP protocol suite
Data link and network layer address functions
Network layer
Data link layer
Comparing routing and switching functions
Routing IP packets
Frame switching
Label switching

3. Technology Fundamentals II
Data terminal and communications equipment
DTE
DCE
Interfaces between PCs and modems
Dial-up data connections
Example of single user Internet access
Data transport over analog circuits
Analog signals
Modulation techniques
Modem standards
Signal conversions between analog and digital systems
Functions of a Codec
Converting analog signals to digital signals
Interfaces for multi-user access networks
Customer equipment interfaces
LAN protocols
Leased (private) line connections
Data transport over digital circuits
DCE (Data Communications Equipment) - digital
Corporate connections
Comparing different multiplexing methods
FDM (Frequency Division Multiplexing)
TDM (Time Division Multiplexing)
STDM (Statistical Time Division Multiplexing)

4. Optical Networking
Optical transmission components
Light sources
Photodetectors
Characteristics relating to fiber optic transmission
Scattering
Absorption
Dispersion
Types of single mode fiber cables
Standard SMF (Single Mode Fiber) characteristics
DSF (Dispersion-Shifted Fiber)
NZ-DSF (NonZero-Dispersion-Shifted Fiber)
Comparison of 1st and 2nd generation optical networks
First generation
Second generation
DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing)
WDM defined
DWDM defined
ITU-T channel spacing for DWDM
Building blocks for optical networks
Optical amplifiers
OXC (Optical Cross-Connect)
OADM (Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer)
MEMS (MicroElectroMechanical Systems)
Deploying fiber optic cable systems
Intercontinental fiber optic cable systems
Short-haul undersea cable systems

5. Frame Relay
Frame relay defined
Packet-switching technology
Statistical multiplexing
Variable bit-rate traffic
Variable-length frames for efficient transport of data
Important terms for frame relay service
Access methods
Virtual circuits
DLCI (Data Link Connection Identifier)
Traffic management
Congestion indicators
Frame relay network illustration
Comparing the cost of frame relay service to dedicated leased lines

6. Introduction to ATM
Evolution of networking
Circuit-switched world
Packet-switched world
Convergence with ATM
ATM defined
Broadband ISDN
Concepts of ATM
Transporting different traffic types
Transfer mode
Packet switching comparison
Packet-switching with X.25
Frame switching with Frame Relay
Cell switching with ATM
Comparing cells, frames, and packets
Cells defined
Migration from packet switching to frame switching
Migration from frame switching to cell switching
ATM networks and interfaces
Networks
Interfaces
Virtual connections
Identifiers
Connections
ATM traffic management
Quality of service parameters
Traffic policing
ATM traffic descriptors
ATM service categories
CBR (Constant Bit Rate)
VBR-RT/NRT (Variable Bit Rate Real-Time/Non-Real-Time)
ABR (Available Bit Rate)
UBR (Unspecified Bit Rate)
ATM adaptation layers and attributes
AAL-1
AAL-2
AAL-3/4
AAL-5

7. Broadband Services and Technology
Categories of broadband services
Residential broadband
Commercial broadband
Broadband transport networks
Broadband access technologies
Digital subscriber line service
High-speed cable modem service over HFC networks
Fixed wireless services

8. The New World of Wireless
Cellular concept of frequency reuse
Frequency reuse
Cellular and PCS (Personal Communications Service)/PCN (Personal Communications Network) frequency spectrum
Evolution from 1st to 2nd generation wireless
Multiple 2nd generation standards
2.5G wireless communications
Enhanced 2nd generation (2.5G) digital cellular and PCS/PCN services
Mobile standards supporting high-speed data
Third generation (3G) wireless attributes and technologies
3rd generation wireless defined
International Mobile Telecommunications–2000 CDMA-based wireless standards
3G global harmonization
Harmonizing multiple CDMA and TDMA standards
Allowing 2G networks to evolve independently
Specifying a network-to-network protocol for intercommunication between family member networks
Evolving to a new IMT-2000 network standard
Understanding 802.x