Information Theory and Digital Communications

Course Coordinator: Dr John Chui, BEng (Hons) CityU, PhD CityU, MIEEE

This course is one of the compulsory courses of the Bachelor’s Degree in Communications Technology. It is also an optional course for the Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics. ELEC S323 is presented yearly in September.

Advisory prerequisite(s)
You are advised to have already studied MATH S122. Some basic knowledge of programming techniques is also helpful in this course.

Aims
The course covers the following topics:

• Develop students' knowledge of the fundamental limits of information theory;
• Provide students with a basic knowledge of the major techniques and types of systems used in digital communications, and an understanding of the principles on which they are based;
• Enable students to follow and interpret descriptions of systems which are new to them, and which have not been specifically covered in the course;
• Develop students' capability to evaluate different digital system designs and propose a system appropriate for a specified application.

Contents
The course covers the following topics:

• Reliability, traffic and information
• Digital systems
• Noise
• Coding and modulation
• Source coding and channel capacity
• Channel coding
• Equalization
• Comparison of digital modulation systems
• Spread spectrum communication and multiple access

Learning support
There will be regular two-hour tutorials and regular surgeries throughout the course.

Assessment
There will be four assignments and one final examination. Students are required to submit assignments via the Online Learning Environment (OLE).

Online requirement
This course is supported by the Online Learning Environment (OLE). You can find the latest course information from the OLE. Through the OLE, you can communicate electronically with your tutor and the Course Coordinator as well as other students. To access the OLE, students will need to have access to the Internet. The use of the OLE is mandatory for the study of this course.

Equipment
Students will need access to computer system suitable for connecting to the Internet. The recommended minimum computing requirements are:

• Pentium 4 CPU
• SVGA display card and colour monitor
• 1 GB RAM
• 2 GB free hard disk space
• Mouse

Set book(s)
There are no set books for this course.

Students with disabilities or special educational needs
The audio and visual components of this course may cause difficulties for students with impaired hearing or vision. You should seek advice from the Course Coordinator before enrolling on the course.