UNDERGRDUATE COURSES

• ECE 451 Communications Systems

The study of fundamental principles of communication theory, as they are related to the transmission of analog signals through filter channels, is the main objective of this course. To understand how communication systems operate and to appreciate how they perform in the presence of noise, two essential analytical tools, namely, Fourier analysis and random signal theory are introduced. Common analog communications systems, i.e., Commercial AM, DSBSC, SSB, VSB, and FM are discussed. Noise performance of AM and FM radios are discussed.

• ECE 451L Communications Systems Laboratory

The primarily objectives of this course are to learn the scientific methods of measurement and data collection in a communication/ telecommunications laboratory setting, to get exposed to the methodology of design and simulation of traditional, as well as new-base communications/ telecommunications systems and circuits, and to work with the state-of-the-art hardware and software tools that support the analysis and design of modern communications systems.  This course also requires the design of measurement experiments.

• ECE 452 Digital Communications
• ECE 202 Signals and Systems

GRADUATE COURSES

• ECE 651 Digital Communications Design I

• ECE 656 Wireless Communications

Wireless mobile communications has experienced unprecedented growth in the past two decades. Novel transmission technologies and signal processing techniques, updated standards, and new services are introduced at an extraordinary rate. In the last decade or so three generations of digital wireless communications systems (2G, 3G, 4G) have been researched and developed worldwide.  The main objective of this course is to introduce a unified view of the fundamental principles of cellular mobile radio and wireless personal communications.  “Radio management” is the central concept in the design, implementation, and deployment of the wireless networks.  The coverage of radio management begins with the introduction of the cellular concept and cellular layout for wireless networks. To provide a desired grade of service in a cellular network the Erlang’s traffic theory is applied. The distinctive character of wireless communications is that the physical mechanism for signal transport is radio propagation. As such a key difference between wireline and wireless communication systems is in the behavior of the transmission channel. Unlike wireline channels that are stationary, wireless channels are random and unpredictable. Moreover, in mobile communications it is assumed that at least one of the terminals is in motion. In order to find statistical models for wireless mobile channels, three mechanisms are studied; large scale path loss of electromagnetic waves due to propagation, Medium scale signal due to shadowing, and small scale fading due to multipath and Doppler Effect. Digital modulation schemes suitable for wireless applications are explored in some detail. Techniques such as diversity and error control coding that mitigate the effect of fading are discussed.  Multiple access technologies for wireless communications, with an emphasis on CDMA and OFDMA are covered.