48771 Communication Theory

6cp
Requisite(s): 48541 Signal Theory
Fields of practice: Telecommunications Engineering program
Undergraduate
Subject coordinator: Sam Reisenfeld

By completing this subject, students should be able to formulate their own answers to the following questions: What are the bandwidth and channel resources required for a digital communications system? What are the system elements and the performance of analogue communication systems? How is the digital modulation type chosen in system design? How is a channel code type chosen in system design? What is the bit error rate performance of various digital modulation types? How is a link budget used in system design? How are carrier, clock, and frame synchronisation achieved? How can systems be designed for multiple access communications?

Topics include: random processes and power spectral density; introduction to digital transmission; review of applicable mathematical concepts; the MAP detector; the maximum likelihood detector; digital modulation techniques; bit error rate performance; link design and the link budget; channel bandwidth requirements; multiple access techniques; synchronisation techniques; and channel coding.

Assessment: Typically assessment in this subject involves a combination of assessment tasks and mid-semester and final examinations.

Typical availability

Spring semester, City campus

Fee information

2006 contribution for 2005/06 commencing Commonwealth-supported undergraduate students: $872.38
2006 amount for undergraduate domestic fee-paying students: $2,400.00
Subject EFTSL: 0.125
Note: The above fees are applicable in 2006 for 2005/06 commencing Commonwealth-supported and domestic fee-paying undergraduate students only. Pre-2005 Commonwealth-supported undergraduate students should consult the Student contribution charges for Commonwealth supported students webpage.
Not all students are eligible for Commonwealth supported places, and not all subjects are available to Commonwealth supported students. Other students (such as postgraduate students and international students) should refer to the Fees webpage.

Access conditions

Note: The requisite information presented in this subject description covers only academic requisites. Full details of all enforced rules, covering both academic and admission requisites, are available at Access conditions and My Student Admin.