Course description
The world of telecommunications is going through a fundamental transition. Over the next five years both the service and application planes will become the dominant area for innovation in
telecommunications.
Virtually every forecast by market researchers predicts a proliferation of new services and many, by a wide cast of market research groups, predict
that this emerging market will reach hundreds of millions (in many cases, billions) of customers by as early as 2010. These services will have life
cycles ranging from one week (eg. tracking an international cricket test) to many years (eg. health analysis). These life cycles include the ‘birth to death’ cycle of services including incarnation, development, deployment, management, recovery and distraction. Service and applications will not be limited to the client (handset) side but will involve server side programming as well.
This MSc offers a unique opportunity for students to learn the concepts of service and application creation within a carrier grade Next Generation
Fixed/Mobile development environment, which is the only one of its type in a university in UK and probably Europe. The course is hosted by the
Integrated Communications Research Centre, which hosts the unique IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) service creation facility. The course will
enhance your ability to develop and provide appropriate applications to users of the new mobile and wireless world. Additionally, information security over wireless and mobile applications will be a key theme.
This course is supported by Orange and every year we have two, paid, project placements with Orange where you will complete a real project. There is great potential to secure employment following completion. Additional arrangements are made with local companies such as Integral Mobile Data® for similar placements.
Course Content
The modules you will study are:
* Project Management and Research Methodology
* Wireless Networks
* Wireless Security
* Security Management
* Software Development
* Mobile Application Development
* MSc Project
How To Study
Course material will be delivered through lectures, tutorials, practical sessions, seminars and projects. There will be invited lecturers from leading industries such as Orange®, Microsoft®, Ubiquity Software® Corporation, and others. The course is supported by a state-of-the-art mobile
computing lab equipped with cutting edge wireless network and mobile devices – laptops, pocket PCs, PDAs, and mobile phones. The lab is sponsored by Orange and is linked to Orange Labs in Bristol via a high speed VPN connection. You will be assessed through written assignments, examinations and/or project work. The MSc involves the completion of a
project documented in a dissertation. As part of the France Telecom/Orange sponsorship of the course, the two best students may complete
their projects as a four-month paid placement in the FT UK Research lab. This might provide fast-track employment potential.
Career prospects
The goal of this unique course is to prepare professionally trained graduates for the industry. They will be able to develop exciting applications for the new generations of mobile systems and networks, with full awareness and understanding of security principles. The course will be heavily sponsored by market leader industries, which gives greater potential for fast-track employment.
