ELEC 470 / 670
Digital and Analog Communication Systems

Bucknell University
Spring, 1998

Overview:

Our goal is to understand the basic principles that are used in the analysis and design of analog and digital communication systems. The material that we discuss in this course is fundamental to every modern communication system, including AM and FM radio, television, digital audio and video, telecommunications, wireless communication, modems, satellite communication, optical fiber communication, and many others. We will also examine current issues in the rapidly changing field of communications.

Class Hours:

MWF 9:00-10:00 AM in Dana 305 or Dana 350 (Sun lab).

Instructor and Office Hours:

Richard J. Kozick
Office: Room 220 Dana
Phone: (717) 524-1129
FAX: (717) 524-1822
Email: kozick@bucknell.edu
Web: http://www.bucknell.edu/~kozick

Tentative office hour schedule for Spring, 1998 is as follows:
(Refer to the course home page for the most up-to-date schedule) 
MWF   3:00 PM -  4:00 PM
Other times by appointment -- please send email or call to arrange.

Prerequisite:

ELEC 320 or undergraduate course in signals and linear systems.





Required Textbook:

Simon Haykin, Communication Systems (Third Edition), Wiley, 1994.

We will make use of the Communications Toolbox for MATLAB that is available on the Sun computers. Several on-line tutorials for MATLAB and the Sun computers are linked to the course home page. The tutorials can be accessed directly at
http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~kozick/tutorials.html

Other Books:

The library has many books on communication systems. Another good source for current topics is the IEEE Communications Magazine, which is available in the library.

Course Home Page:

The home page for the ELEC 470 course is located at the URL
http://www.eg.bucknell.edu/~kozick/elec470/elec470.html
It can also be accessed by following the link from my home page at
http://www.bucknell.edu/~kozick

The course home page contains the homework assignments, syllabus, links to Web pages related to communications, and other course information. Data files and sample MATLAB programs will occasionally be posted on the home page that you will download and use for homework and project assignments.

Grading:

The grading in this course will be objective, so that you are not competing against one another for a limited number of high grades. There is no "curve" that prescribes the number of A's, B's, C's, etc. - it is possible for the entire class to earn A's. The intent of this policy is to encourage cooperation among the class. I hope everyone does well, and I hope we can all work together to grow in our understanding of communication systems.

Graduate students will receive additional assignments that treat some topics in greater detail. Final grades for the course will be computed as follows. 

2 exams at 15% each                30%
Final exam                         25%
Homework                           15%
Projects                           20%
Quizzes and class participation    10%


Exams and Quizzes:

Two in-class exams will be given during the semester, on the following dates:
Wednesday, February 18, 1998 and Monday, March 30, 1998
The course will conclude with a comprehensive final exam.

Short quizzes (announced or unannounced) will also be given to check your understanding of the material as we proceed through the course. Missed quizzes cannot be made-up, but your lowest quiz grade will be dropped.

Homework:

Homework will be assigned regularly. It will be due at the beginning of class on the specified due date. On some assignments, only a subset of the problems will be graded. Late assignments will be accepted but reduced in grade.

You are encouraged to work on the homework with groups of your classmates. The purpose of the homework is to practice with the material and to improve your understanding. I encourage you to learn from each other, and also to ask me when you have questions. However, the homework solutions that you submit for grading must be written individually. Be sure that you understand the reasoning for each problem, even if you initially solved the problem with help from your classmates. Keep in mind that most of your grade in this course is determined by exams and quizzes, which you will have to do by yourself.

Projects:

We will work on one or more design projects during the semester in order to gain a better understanding of communication systems. Projects may include reading current literature, designing and simulating systems in MATLAB and Simulink, and real-time implementations using the dSPACE digital signal processors in the Dana 129 lab. More details about the projects will be provided as the semester progresses.












Tentative Outline:

The following is a tentative list of topics for the course. The corresponding chapters in the text and the exam dates are indicated.
Introduction and Review of Signals and Systems
Weeks 1-2:
Introduction to the course.
Chapter 1: Communication system, modulation, analog vs. digital communication systems.
Chapter 2: Review of Fourier transform, linear systems, filters, etc.

Analog Communication Systems
Weeks 3-5:
Chapter 3: Amplitude modulation (AM) and its variants, frequency-division multiplexing (FDM), angle modulation (FM and PM), phased-locked loop, superheterodyne receiver.
Application to broadcast radio and television.
Chapter 5: Overview of noise effects in AM and FM systems.

Exam 1: Wednesday, February 18.

Digital Communication Systems
Weeks 6-8:
Chapter 6: Sampling, pulse-amplitude modulation, time-division multiplexing (TDM), quantization, pulse-code modulation (PCM), speech coding.

Spring Recess:
Begins Friday, March 13 at 5 PM and ends Monday, March 23 at 8 AM.

Weeks 9-10:
Chapter 7 (transmission of baseband pulses): matched filter, intersymbol interference, channel equalization, adaptive equalizer.

Exam 2: Wednesday, April 1.

Weeks 11-12:
Chapter 8: Digital passband transmission and reception, coherent phase-shift keying (PSK) and frequency-shift keying (FSK) and quadriphase-shift keying (QPSK), noncoherent FSK, quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM). Applications to digital cellular phones and high-speed modems.

Weeks 13-14:
Chapter 9: Introduction to spread-spectrum modulation, frequency-hopping and direct sequence, code-division multiplexing (CDM).
Application to CDMA wireless communication systems.
We will try to relate the basic principles to communication applications drawn from radio and television broadcasting, telecommunications, wireless communication, modem design, and others.