Undergraduate - UnitECE4042 - Communications theory

This unit entry is for students who completed this unit in 2015 only. For students planning to study the unit, please refer to the unit indexes in the the current edition of the Handbook. If you have any queries contact the managing faculty for your course or area of study.

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6 points, SCA Band 2, 0.125 EFTSL

Refer to the specific census and withdrawal dates for the semester(s) in which this unit is offered.

Level	Undergraduate
Faculty	Faculty of Engineering
Organisational Unit	Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering
Offered	Clayton First semester 2015 (Day) Malaysia Second semester 2015 (Day)
Coordinator(s)	Dr Yi Hong (Clayton); Dr Hisham Jaward (Malaysia)

Synopsis

This unit will cover aspects of physical layer communications which are relevant to modern communication systems. Digital modulation techniques, including quadrature modulation and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) will be covered. The effects of noise on bit error rates will be covered, along with techniques to reduce them, including matched filtering and equalisation. Information theory covers questions of capacity, diversity, and error correction coding. Finally the use of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication systems will be covered.

Outcomes

Knowledge of the fundamental limits of communication in noisy band limited channels
Knowledge of digital modulation techniques and the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques
Understanding of the properties of different communication channels and how channels can be modelled mathematically
Knowledge of the properties of modern error correcting codes
Understanding of how orthogonal frequency division multiplexing and multiple input multiple output (MIMO) multiple antenna systems can be used in modern communication systems and the advantages and limitations of their use
Understanding of the statistical nature of communication
Skills to design and simulate modern communication systems using industry standard simulation tools.

Assessment

Continuous assessment: 30%
Examination: (3 hours): 70%.
Students are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component (assignments, tests, mid-semester exams, laboratory reports) and at least 45% in the final examination component and an overall mark of 50% to achieve a pass grade in the unit. Students failing to achieve this requirement will be given a maximum of 45% in the unit.

Workload requirements

3 hours lectures and 3 hours laboratory and practice classes, and 6 hours of private study per week

Chief examiner(s)

Professor Jamie Evans

Prerequisites

ECE2041 or ECE2401

Prohibitions

ECE5042