Introductory Module for Communications
Module Title - Introductory Module for Communications
Number of credits – 20
Module description
There are two parts to this module:
Part 1
An introduction for two MSc programmes (MSc in Electronic and Computer Engineering; MSc in Communications Engineering) is given. Topics covered:
- Case studies in Professional Engineering covering:
- professional and ethical conduct in engineering
- the commercial and social context
- management and business practices
- sustainable development
- regulatory requirements
- health & safety, environmental and commercial risk
- Introduction to signal processing
- Fourier transform
- Basic probability concepts
- Introduction to data analysis
- Programming in Matlab
- Presentation and report writing skills
Part 2
This provides fundamentals of various aspects relevant to modules in the MSc Communications Engineering programme.
- Introduction to wired and wireless communication systems
- Information theory
- Fourier transforms in communications
- Analogue and digital modulation schemes
- Transmitters and receivers
- Radiowave propagation and link budgets
By the end of the module you will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the economic, legal, social, ethical and environmental context associated with their engineering studies.
- Perform basic analysis of data.
- Use programming techniques in Matlab.
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the issues relevant to disseminating research, including verbal and written communication skills.
- Gain an appreciation of how modern communication systems (wired and wireless) work.
- Compare transmission line types (twisted pair, coaxial, fibre optics etc) and recommend the optimal types for particular applications.
- Understand the concepts of land mobile (handheld radio, cellular) and satellite communications and perform simple calculations.
- Explain and perform calculations on matched filtering, sampling and quantisation.
- Explain the relationship between modulated signals and their baseband counterparts, both in the time and frequency domains.
- Explain the noise model for narrowband signals, and use it in calculations.
- Explain the operation of and solve simple problems concerned with the design of radio frequency front-ends.
- Explain the operation of and solve simple problems concerned with the use of Link budgets
Teaching and assessment:
- Semester 1
- Assessment is 100% coursework consisting of:
- 50% Part1: coursework assignment– a group assignment assessed by a presentation and written report.
- 50% Part2: A 2 hour class test.