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Implementation of an Integrated Undergraduate Telecommunications Laboratory

Abstract

This paper focuses on the implementation of the integrated laboratory using identified equipments and elaborate how it can provide students an integrated network environment where traditional telephone network, VoIP, data network and backbone fiber optic network coexist with data, voice and video traffic. Our preliminary study indicates that our students show much more interest in working in such a lab environment. No matter what individual course they are taking, the students can always see a big picture of the network, which shows great resemblance of the real world Internet and applications. In the meanwhile, more research work, such as the topics require a mixed type network and traffic, can be conducted conveniently.

1. Introduction

The Telecommunications and Computer Networking (TCN) program at Southeast Missouri State University aims to provide students a balanced education between theory and technical expertise, considering that standard engineering courses focus on the technical aspects, but under-address the challenges in system design and configuration, maintenance and troubleshooting, and pure technical schools do not equip students with enough theoretical background. The TCN curriculum covers digital circuit design, telecommunications and fiber optics, computer networking, network routing and switching, network design and maintenance, system analysis and design, wireless communications and networks, server techniques, and network security, IP telephony and network management.

Originally, the TCN option had two laboratories including a general networking lab and a network security lab. The functions, application, and limitations of the current laboratories in the TCN curriculum have been identified in our previous work[1], and a framework of an integrated laboratory was proposed as well. The main concerns with the previous laboratory setup are twofold: one is that even though the laboratories offer versatile experiments, the activities are mostly confined in specific subjects, and students are not put in a complete telecommunications system environment where they can integrate knowledge from different TCN courses; the other is that how to build an integrated lab featuring LANs, WANs, voice, data, wire line, wireless and security technologies based on the current available lab resources.

Recently, the department received donations from Falcon Communications Inc.[3] and Time Warner Telecom[4] including SONET OC-3 add/drop multiplexers, a Nortel DMS-10 switching system, an IP/PBX and IP phones. Together with the equipment in the current two networking laboratories, we are developing an integrated advanced TCN laboratory. A similar SONET setup is also available at the Wireless and Optical Networking Laboratory at the College of Technology at the University of Houston[2], except that our purposes focus more on teaching outcome than doing pure research. This paper will present the implementation of the laboratory and how traditional telephone network, VOIP, data network and backbone fiber optic network coexist with data, voice and video traffic in the lab environment.

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Wu, S., & Athinarayanan, R., & Hou, X., & Wallgren, C. (2009, June), Implementation Of A New Communication Laboratory Paper presented at 2009 Annual Conference & Exposition, Austin, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--5805