| Semester 2, 2020 Online | |
| Short Description: | Communication Systems |
| Units : | 1 |
| Faculty or Section : | Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences |
| School or Department : | School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering |
| Student contribution band : | Band 2 |
| ASCED code : | 031307 - Communications Technologies |
| Grading basis : | Graded |
Staffing
Examiner:
Requisites
Pre-requisite: (ELE2504 and ELE2601) or Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: GCEN or METC or MEPR or MENS or GCNS or GDNS
Other requisites
Recommended prior or concurrent study: ELE3506 and ELE4605
Rationale
Most modern electronics incorporate some degree of communication into their design. As such a foundational understanding of the many technologies and methodologies used to create these communication systems is required. The purpose of this course is to provide an introduction to these specialised techniques and their related hardware and software components, and to study modern analog and digital communication systems and their utility in modern electronics design. This course follows on from ELE2601 and ELE4605 and leads into ELE4607.
Synopsis
Students will gain an appreciation to the methods used to create communication systems across three broad areas of techniques and methods; systems and components; and real world applications. Students will study a wide range of relevant communication topics including phase locked loops, noise, modulation methods, electromagnetic propagation, antennas and optical fibre communication. The utility of these topics is illustrated by reference to existing communication systems such as telephone networks, TV/DTB, modern cellular mobile systems, microwave radio, radio navigation aids, and satellite communication systems.
Objectives
The course objectives define the student learning outcomes for a course. On completion of this course, students should be able to:
- demonstrate an awareness of standards such as CCIR and CCITT recommendations;
- calculate the performance of simple communications circuits;
- calculate the propagation characteristics of electromagnetic waves in free space and in the troposphere;
- analyse the performance of simple aerials and aerial arrays;
- analyse the structure and identify the relationship between various subsystems in modern communication systems.
Topics
| Description | Weighting(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | COMMUNICATION ELECTRONICS Transmitter and receiver architecture, frequency synthesis techniques, mixers, modulators and demodulators. | 10.00 |
| 2. | DIGITAL BASEBAND TRANSMISSION Line codes, spectra, filtering, pulse shaping, eye patterns, PCM. | 7.00 |
| 3. | DIGITAL MODULATION METHODS FSK, PSK, QPSK etc. | 7.00 |
| 4. | NOISE Origins, Noise Figure and Temperature, passive networks, and cascaded networks, low noise devices. | 7.00 |
| 5. | ANTENNAS Simple wire antennas, arrays of identical elements, aperture antennas, Antenna parameters, gain, effective area, aperture taper, spillover, efficiency, polarisation etc. | 15.00 |
| 6. | PROPAGATION In free space, the ionosphere, the troposphere, refraction, reflection, diffraction, polarisation. | 7.00 |
| 7. | EXISTING COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS Television, cellular mobile radio and satellite communication. | 40.00 |
| 8. | OPTICAL COMMUNICATION Types of fibre, propagation, dispersion and loss, light emitting diodes, semi conductor lasers, pin and avalanche detectors, bandwidth. Losses, power budgets and link design. | 7.00 |
Text and materials required to be purchased or accessed
ALL textbooks and materials available to be purchased can be sourced from (unless otherwise stated). (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/textbooks/?year=2020&sem=02&subject1=ELE4606)
Please for alternative purchase options from USQ Bookshop. (https://omnia.usq.edu.au/info/contact/)
Reference materials
(International Edition. Also text for ELE4605 Fields and Waves.)
Student workload expectations
| Activity | Hours |
|---|---|
| Directed 精东传媒app | 52.00 |
| Examinations | 2.00 |
| Private 精东传媒app | 55.00 |
| Project Work | 26.00 |
| Report Writing | 20.00 |
Assessment details
| Description | Marks out of | Wtg (%) | Due Date | Objectives Assessed | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assignment 1 | 200 | 20 | 19 Aug 2020 | 2,5 | |
| Assignment 2 | 200 | 20 | 07 Oct 2020 | 3,4 | |
| ONLINE EXAMINATION | 600 | 60 | End S2 | 1,2,3,4,5 | (see note 1) |
Notes
- This will be an open examination. Students will be provided further instruction regarding the exam by their course examiner via 精东传媒appDesk. The examination date will be available via UConnect when the official Alternate Assessment Schedule has been released.
Important assessment information
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Attendance requirements:
It is the students' responsibility to attend and participate appropriately in all activities (such as lectures, tutorials, laboratories and practical work) scheduled for them, and to study all material provided to them or required to be accessed by them to maximise their chance of meeting the objectives of the course and to be informed of course-related activities and administration. -
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are:
To satisfactorily complete an individual assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks for that item.
Requirements after S2 2020:
Requirements for students to complete each assessment item satisfactorily:
To satisfactorily complete an assessment item a student must achieve at least 50% of the marks or a grade of at least C-. Students do not have to satisfactorily complete each assessment item to be awarded a passing grade in this course. Refer to Statement 4 below for the requirements to receive a passing grade in this course. -
Penalties for late submission of required work:
Students should refer to the Assessment Procedure (point 4.2.4) -
Requirements for student to be awarded a passing grade in the course:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must achieve at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course.
Requirements after S2 2020:
To be assured of receiving a passing grade a student must obtain at least 50% of the total weighted marks available for the course (i.e. the Primary Hurdle), and have satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), i.e. the end of semester examination by achieving at least 40% of the weighted marks available for that assessment item.
Supplementary assessment may be offered where a student has undertaken all of the required summative assessment items and has passed the Primary Hurdle but failed to satisfy the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised), or has satisfied the Secondary Hurdle (Supervised) but failed to achieve a passing Final Grade by 5% or less of the total weighted Marks.
To be awarded a passing grade for a supplementary assessment item (if applicable), a student must achieve at least 50% of the available marks for the supplementary assessment item as per the Assessment Procedure (point 4.4.2). -
Method used to combine assessment results to attain final grade:
The final grades for students will be assigned on the basis of the weighted aggregate of the marks (or grades) obtained for each of the summative assessment items in the course. -
Examination information:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are:
An Open Examination is one in which candidates may have access to any printed or written material and a calculator during the examination.
Requirements after S2 2020:
In a Closed Examination, candidates are allowed to bring only writing and drawing instruments into the examination. -
Examination period when Deferred/Supplementary examinations will be held:
Due to COVID-19 the requirements for S2 2020 are:
The details regarding deferred/supplementary examinations will be communicated at a later date.
Requirements after S2 2020:
Any Deferred or Supplementary examinations for this course will be held during the next examination period. -
精东传媒app Student Policies:
Students should read the USQ policies: Definitions, Assessment and Student Academic Misconduct to avoid actions which might contravene 精东传媒app policies and practices. These policies can be found at .
Assessment notes
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Students must familiarise themselves with the USQ Assessment Procedures (.
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IEEE is the referencing system required in this course. Students should use IEEE style in their assignments to format details of the information sources they have cited in their work. For further information on this referencing style, refer to the below website: