Year 1

• Postgraduate Project in Computer and Communications Engineering (60 Credits) - Compulsory

  Your final module is a large project on a topic you are a passionate about which is worth one third of the total masters. The project gives you the chance to combine your general and specialist computer and communications engineering knowledge and understanding, applying an existing or emerging technology to the solution of a practical problem. You could instead choose to carry out research to contribute and extend the theoretical understanding of new and advancing technology and its application. Through your project will also be able to demonstrate a personal commitment to professional standards, recognising obligations to society, the profession and the environment, while also becoming a specialist in a particular area of computer and communications engineering.

  Recent areas students have chosen to investigate have included evaluating WSNs, VANETs and open queueing networks with unreliable servers.

• Project Research and Communication Skills ( Credits) - Compulsory

  This zero-credit module is designed to develop your understanding of the process behind designing, planning and conducting applied research – which is essential before embarking upon your final 60-credit project. The research methods module covers research techniques, data collection and analysis, academic writing, referencing and citation, and how to develop a research proposal before you present your project through a written thesis and an oral exam. The module encourages you to apply and test theory and contribute to applications. It will also enhance your ability to handle data for problem solving and evaluation, and to test theory using analysis and simulations – integrating the learning from other modules. The module will also give you the opportunity to demonstrate your understanding of the legal, social, ethical and professional issues in the context of computer communications.

• Enterprise Network Troubleshooting (15 Credits) - Compulsory

  This in-depth module provides a theoretical and practical overview of troubleshooting complex enterprise networks. It will enable you to communicate advanced network concepts to both networking experts and non-experts and apply the techniques you have learned to carry out projects. With at least 36 hours spent developing your skills in our industry-standard labs, the module focuses on turning you in to a qualified network manager, administrator and engineer with both problem solving and practical skills, such as selecting and configuring appropriate protocols.

• Virtualisation and Cloud Computing (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module covers various issues relating to virtualisation and could computing, with at least 24 hours spent working in labs over the duration of the module. You will focus on exploring and understanding modern data centres, virtualisation, distributed storage, MapReduce, NoSQL, platform services, web services and caching. At the end of the module you will be able to critically assess a variety of cloud platforms, use quantitative and qualitative techniques to professionally design and implement scalable applications and services that execute in a distrusted computing environment, and evaluate the trade-offs and challenges when developing a cloud.

• Network Systems and Services (15 Credits) - Compulsory

  You will study the design, implementation and maintenance of network systems and services. You examine concepts such as a network operating system and explore networking paradigms including socket and thread-based programming, remote procedure calls (RPC), corba and Java RMI You will also explore the design and implementation of global services such as web servers. The course concludes by looking at new developments in networking including network processors, blade servers and grid computing.

• Network Management (30 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module is designed to help you develop into a network manager or engineer with advanced problem solving and practical skills, and includes at least 24 hours of lab work. It will provide you with a systematic understanding of the concepts and standards for network management, network management protocols and network management tools which are used in current and future communication infrastructures. You will complete the module with critical insight and practical experience of the essential computer network management tools, as well as their development, operation, monitoring and assessment.

• Operating Systems and Application Environments (15 Credits) - Compulsory

  This module focuses on the design and implementation of the modern operating systems and application environments used to build commercial, online applications. The module involves at least 12 hours of lab work and examines key operating concepts including processes and threads, memory management, scheduling, inter-process communication (IPC), device drivers, storage systems, multiprocessor systems, micro-kernels and networking interfaces. You will concentrate on Linux, Windows, Apple iOS and Android operating systems before focusing on a detailed study of key application environments including the Eclipse IDE, XCode, and Android SDK. Finally, we look at the concept of virtual machines and building applications for the cloud using the Google GAE SDK.

• Computer Networks and Internetworking (15 Credits) - Compulsory

  During this module you will develop a systematic understanding of the concepts, protocols and standards for computer networks and internetworking, used in current and future communication infrastructures. It is vital in today's networking market that network managers, administrators and engineers have a critical insight and practical experience of the essential tools used for monitoring, managing and evaluating computer networks. This module, which includes at least 12 hours spent working in labs, is designed to equip you with these problem solving and practical skills.