Basic Course on Communications Engineering (5cr)
Course unit code: C-10122-COMM--100
General information
- Credits
- 5 cr
- Institution
- University of Tampere
Objectives
After completing the course, the student 1) understands the significance of communications engineering in modern society and knows its main technological trends, 2) knows the essential terminology of communications engineering and is able to use it correctly, 3) knows transmission media and their fundamental properties, 4) knows the most essential modulation methods, 5) knows the essential operational blocks of transmitters and receivers and is able to explain their general working principles, 6) knows the basic priciple how TCP/IP protocols and traffic in a communications network is analyzed.
Content
The basics of analog and digital transmission. The operational blocks of transmitter and receiver and their functions.Transmission media: copper wires and optical fibers. Radio waves and antennas.Modulation methods. Signal-to-noise ratio. Symbol error ratio.Wired and wireless communications networks. Synchronization and frame structures. Multiplexing. Local area network and the protocols of internet.The future of communications engineering and main technological trends.
Prerequisites
Equivalent knowledge acquired by other means is also acceptable. Essentially understanding of basic math related to sinusoidal signals, complex numbers and decibels is expected.
Further information
The course introduces the basic concepts and operating principles for understanding the current and future communications systems. It is explained during the course, how data is transferred efficiently from a transmitter to a receiver, and how the properties of transmission medium affect the achievable data transfer rate. In addition, the course describes how single devices together form complete communications networks. The course also concretizes the significance of communications engineering in the present-day society, which is evolving due to digitalization.Partial completions of the course must be carried out during the same implementation round. Exceptions must be discussed with the responsible teacher.