ENGR3731 Communication Systems

2020

4.5

3 x 1-hour lectures weekly
6 x 2-hour tutorials per semester
6 x 2-hour laboratories per semester

ENGR2722 - Analysis of Engineering Systems

1 of ENGR8831, ENGR9831 has been successfully completed

Familiarity with operational amplifiers and basic electronics such as obtained in ENGR1202 Analog Electronics 1.

Spectral Density and Noise: energy and power spectral densities; transmission of noise through LTI systems; equivalent noise bandwidth; available power and noise temperature; noise figure; antenna and sky noise temperatures.

Amplitude Modulation: modulation and demodulation techniques and systems for double sideband suppressed carrier, double sideband large carrier, single sideband, and vestigial sideband; frequency division multiplexing; superheterodyne demodulators; signal-to-noise ratios in AM reception.

Angle Modulation: frequency modulation; phase modulation; narrowband FM; wideband FM; modulation and demodulation techniques and systems for FM signals; demodulation of FM signals; signal-to-noise ratios in FM reception.

Information Theory: measure of information; joint and conditional entropy; channel matrix and channel capacity; source coding theorem; coding algorithms; noiseless coding theorem; code efficiency.

Baseband pulse and digital signalling: pulse code modulation; differential pulse code modulation; delta modulation; digital signalling formats; intersymbol interference.

Bandpass digital signalling: binary signalling; multilevel signalling; minimum-shift keying; comparison of bandpass digital signalling systems.

This topic introduces students to the concept, treatment and analysis of noise in communication systems, the basic concepts of information theory and its application to coding and communication, linear and exponential continuous-wave modulation and demodulation techniques, the methods and issues in transmitting analogue messages along digital communication systems, the range of techniques for modulating and demodulating digital information for transmission through a communication system, and the comparison of different communication systems in terms of issues such as noise, bandwidth and information rate.

At the completion of the topic, students are expected to be able to:

1. Quantify the time-average effect of noise in communication systems
2. Understand the modulation and demodulation techniques for continuous-wave communication systems
3. Apply information theory to the coding of information and the calculation of the capacity of a channel
4. Understand the modulation and demodulation techniques for digital baseband and bandpass communication systems
5. Critically compare different modulators and demodulators