Academic titleMaster of Engineering in Distributed Computing
Course descriptionGroup A subjects (foundation studies) consists of subjects that bring students up-to-date with advanced computer science concepts, techniques and tools.
Group B subjects offer advanced study in distributed computing technologies and its applications, and includes a number of new and existing subjects. MEDC students should study at least four subjects from subgroup B2 in addition to the compulsory subject from subgroup B1 (433-652).
Group C subjects offer an opportunity for students to carry out a solid practice-oriented or research-oriented project in distributed computing. Selection of projects will be on an individual or team basis, depending on student background and availability of supervision.
With permission from the Program Director, subjects in Group A and B may be substituted by other suitable studies.
* Entry Level 1: 4 subjects from Group A, 10 subjects from Group B and 1 subject from Group C
* Entry Level 2: 10 subjects from Group B and 1 subject from Group C
* Entry Level 3: 6 subjects from Group B and 1 subject from Group C.
GROUP A subjects
Subject Semester Credit Points
433-351 Database Systems
Topics covered include data models: relational, deductive, object-oriented, network, hierarchical, semantic; database design; relation normalisation; query languages including SQL; integrity; security; concurrency; query processing and optimisation; ... Semester 1 12.50
433-352 Data on the Web
Topics covered include: web crawlers, text categorisation, data mining, document retrieval, information extraction, natural language processing and semi-structured data querying. Semester 2 12.50
433-520 Programming and Software Development
Topics covered include algorithmic problem-solving; data types; program structures; objects and classes; data storage structures, and files. The programming will be undertaken in Java. Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
433-521 Algorithms and Complexity
Topics covered include complexity classes and asymptotic notations; empirical analysis of algorithms; abstract data types including queues, trees, heaps and graphs; algorithmic techniques including brute force, divide-and-conquer, dynamic programming... Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
433-522 Internet Technologies
Topics covered include: Introduction to Internet, OSI reference model layers, protocols and services, data transmission basics, interface standards, network topologies, data link protocols, message routing, LANs, WAN, TCP/IP suite, detailed study of ... Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
GROUP B subjects
B1: Core and Compulsory
Subject Semester Credit Points
433-652 Distributed Systems
Topics covered include: introduction, principles and paradigms, design issues, communication, processes, naming, synchronization, consistency and replication, fault tolerance, and security issues in distributed systems and applications; distributed c... Semester 1, Semester 2 12.50
B2: Core and Recommended
Subject Semester Credit Points
433-620 Engineering for Internet Applications
Topics covered include: Web software architectures; languages and standards for data and applications on the World Wide Web; protocols for data exchange, program invocation, self-description, and discovery that form a basis for Web Services. Technolo... Semester 2 12.50
433-653 Mobile Computing Systems Programming
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
433-654 Sensor Networks and Applications
Topics covered include: Introduction to sensor networks, attributes of sensor networks, wired and wireless sensors, sensors and networks design and deployment issues, bandwidth and energy constraints aware techniques for network discovery, network co... Semester 2 12.50
433-655 Distributed Algorithms
Topics covered include: synchronous and asynchronous network algorithms that address resource allocation, communication, consensus among distributed processes, distributed data structures, data consistency, deadlock detection, leader election, and gl... Semester 1 12.50
433-677 Networks & Parallel Processing
The subject revises parallel architectures and computations with focus on network and communication complexity. A number of network programming techniques are covered. The subject introduces formal communication complexity and two models of parallel... Semester 2 12.50
433-678 Cluster and Grid Computing
Parallel systems: parallel paradigms, parallelisation, resource management and scheduling, message-passing and parameter parallel programming; Cluster computing: cluster architecture, programming with MPI; Grid computing: grids and grid technologies... Semester 1 12.50
433-682 Software Agents
What is an agent? Intentional agents and BDI architecture. Reactive agents and subsumption architecture. Emergent properties of agents. Believable agents. Agent languages: Agent-0, KQML, dMARS, etc. Agents extracting information from the World-Wide ... Semester 1 12.50
B3: Electives
Subject Semester Credit Points
433-621 Web Technologies and Applications
Topics covered include: Web software architectures. Languages and standards for data on the World Wide Web: HTTP, XML, XSL, XQuery, XLink and XPath. The Semantic Web and RDF. Web mining and crawling. Semester 1 12.50
433-643 IT Project Management
Project management issues including client management, management of technical teams; project planning, scheduling and estimation; risk management, configuration management, quality assurance and accreditation, and legal issues, software quality inc... Semester 1 12.50
433-645 Software System Security
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
433-646 Systems Requirements Engineering
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
433-661 High Performance Database Systems
Successful companies and organisations rely on the effective and efficient manipulation of data. These include telecommunication companies, banking, retailing, airlines, manufacturing, process control and government instrumentalities. Many end-user a... Semester 2 12.50
433-684 Machine Learning
This subject will not be available in 2009 12.50
GROUP C subjects
Subject Semester Credit Points
433-659 Distributed Computing Project
The project involves both in-depth investigation of a relevant topic, related works, and development a significant and functional component of a distributed system and/or application. Each student selects a research and development project in consult... Semester 1, Semester 2 25