Courseware - Sliding Window Protocol Project
The Network Technology & Applications data link layer explain its concepts with the use of a sliding window of frames to demonstrate the operations of the stop and wait protocol

The course, Network Technology and Applications offered by the School of Computing provides technological background in telecommunication, data communication and Internet technology to non-computer science students. In one of its modules: Data link layer concepts, students are expected to understand the process that controls the rate at which data are exchanged between two communicating devices using the sliding window flow control protocol.

Dr Ong Ghim Hwee and the Centre for Instructional Technology (CIT) designed and developed a learning object (LO) to achieve part of this module objective. Before proceeding to the general case, students first examine the simplest case of the protocol. It uses the concept of a sliding window of frames to demonstrate the operations of the stop and wait protocol in which a sender transmits a frame and waits for its acknowledgment before sending the next one. The learning object (LO) demonstrates this simplest case of the protocol.

Learning Objects Framework

In general, the learning object framework consists of five sections: Overview, Content, Practice, Assessment and Summary.

The overview section sets the lesson objectives, pre-requisites and briefly explains the practical importance of the lesson to be learnt.

Content can be classified into broad categories such as concept, fact, procedure, process and principle. Differing viewpoints, schools of thought, critiques and opinions which is common in the humanities can be classified as concepts. Content can be presented in a variety of teaching modes. These include instructor lead lessons such as web-cast, problem based learning, case studies and interactive course website. A variety of media can be used, for example, texts, video, audio, graphics, 2D and 3D animations and simulations.

Practice and assessment may include practical projects, field work, team project, case studies, lab work, small group activities, multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks, matching, essays and other types of quizzes. Practice can be presented in a variety of form such as games, puzzles, graphics, videos, animations, simulations or simply in plain texts.

The summary section reviews the lesson, provides information about the next lesson and additional resources which may be helpful in understanding the topic.

Technology used

This project is a simulation in Macromedia Director. The program is written in lingo codes. You will need Shockwave plug in to view the simulation.

Note: CIT learning object is adopted from the framework of a Cisco System RLO