EGB342 Telecommunications and RF

Unit Outline: Semester 2 2024, Gardens Point, Internal

Overview

This intermediate unit addresses core concepts, characteristics and performance requirements in analog and digital communications. Knowledge and skills developed in this unit are relevant to communication and signals stream in the electrical engineering major. This unit introduces basic building blocks of analog and digital modulation techniques for single and multi-user communications, as well as fundamentals of RF relevant to telecommunications. You will learn to use time and frequency domain signal analysis, apply information theory to compress digital data, choose appropriate modulation techniques to transmit signals and analyze the performance of communication systems in noisy channels. You will also gain knowledge on RF building blocks of telecommunications systems. You will build on this unit in EGH443 Advanced Telecommunications and RF and EGH444 Digital Systems and Image processing by extending analytical understanding for design and analysis of more complex systems.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:

1. Incorporate social and professional accountability in devising solutions to telecoms and signal processing problems, at a developed level.
2. Interpret, report and critically reflect on problem solutions using appropriate information display methods, at a developed level.
3. Demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of key telecoms and signal processing methods and RF buildings blocks of telecommunications systems, at a developed level.
4. Demonstrate your ability to investigate and solve contextualized practical telecoms engineering problems using abstraction and interpretation methods, at a developed level

Content

Learning Approaches

Teaching Mode:
Lectures with embedded interactive components - 3 hours per week (2+1)
Tutorials - 2 hours per week

Learning approaches:
This unit will be delivered using interactivity-fortified lectures, blended with inverted classroom components. The Tutorials will contain small group work on problems solved using analytical development (by hand) alternated with Matlab based exercises. The alternating pattern is designed to combine the analytical skill development while addressing the communications and professional aspects of the unit learning outcomes.

Lecture sessions will build on students pre-lecture reading materials to introduce and facilitate the definition of the technical areas to be addressed. Tutorial and group activities will further refine the technical skill development and examine solution strategies. Submission of individual and team assignment solutions, in the form of reports and Matlab code, will be supported by the feedback and discussions planned to occur during lecture sessions, to close the cycle of problem formulation, analysis, solution and reflection.

Feedback on Learning and Assessment

Formative feedback will be provided throughout the discussion and workshop sessions. Review of submitted assessment items will provide both summative and formative feedback.

Assessment

Overview

The assessment for this unit is designed to measure your acquisition of key concepts and your ability to apply and implement theoretical developments to contextualized communications engineering problems. You will be working individually as well as in small teams solving problems using a variety of analytical and computer based techniques, including the use of the Matlab environment. Wherever possible a project based approach to assignment design will be utilized, to assist with contextualization and enhance the relevance of assignment tasks.

Unit Grading Scheme

7- point scale

Assessment Tasks

Assessment: Problem Solving Task

Project-based tasks addressing a telecommunications scenario. A combination of problem
problem-solving and computer programming tasks.

Assessment: Problem Solving Task

Contextualized Project-based tasks addressing a telecommunications scenario. A
combination of problem problem-solving and computer programming tasks.

Assessment: Examination (written)

Invigilated assessment focusing upon mathematical methods and problem solving.

“On Campus invigilated Exam. If campus access is restricted at the time of the central examination period/due date, an alternative, which may be a timed online assessment, will be offered. Individual students whose circumstances prevent their attendance on campus will be provided with an alternative assessment approach.”

Academic Integrity

Students are expected to engage in learning and assessment at QUT with honesty, transparency and fairness. Maintaining academic integrity means upholding these principles and demonstrating valuable professional capabilities based on ethical foundations.

Failure to maintain academic integrity can take many forms. It includes cheating in examinations, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, and submitting an assessment item completed by another person (e.g. contract cheating). It can also include providing your assessment to another entity, such as to a person or website.

You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.

Further details of QUT’s approach to academic integrity are outlined in the Academic integrity policy and the Student Code of Conduct. Breaching QUT’s Academic integrity policy is regarded as student misconduct and can lead to the imposition of penalties ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.

Resources

Resource Materials

Recommended text(s)

J.G. Proakis and M. Salehi, Fundamentals of Communication Systems, Pearson.

Reference book(s)

W.D. Stanley and J.M. Jeffords, Electronic Communications: Principles and Systems

Risk Assessment Statement

There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit, as all classes will be held in lecture theatres and small group tutorial rooms. Emergency exits and assembly areas will be made apparent to all attending students. You are referred to the University policy on health and safety (http://www.mopp.qut.edu.au/A/A_09_01.jsp)

Standards/Competencies

This unit is designed to support your development of the following standards\competencies.

Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineer

1: Knowledge and Skill Base

1. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
2. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
3. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
4. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)

2: Engineering Application Ability

1. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
2. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
3. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)

3: Professional and Personal Attributes

1. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task
2. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task
3. 
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task
4. 
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Course Learning Outcomes

EN01 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

1. Make decisions ethically within the social, cultural, and organisational contexts of professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: ULO1
2. Engage stakeholders professionally and communicate the outcomes of your work effectively to expert and non-expert audiences using appropriate modes.
   Relates to: ULO2, Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
3. Display leadership, creativity, and initiative in both self-directed and collaborative contexts of professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
4. Demonstrate coherent knowledge and skills of physical, mathematical, statistical, computer, and information sciences that are fundamental to professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: ULO3, Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
5. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of one engineering discipline, its research directions, and its application in contemporary professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: ULO4, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)

EV01 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours)

1. Engage stakeholders professionally and communicate the outcomes of your work effectively to expert and non-expert audiences using appropriate modes.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
2. Display leadership, creativity, and initiative in both self-directed and collaborative contexts of professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
3. Demonstrate coherent knowledge and skills of physical, mathematical, statistical, computer, and information sciences that are fundamental to professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)
4. Demonstrate a thorough understanding of one engineering discipline, its research directions, and its application in contemporary professional engineering practice.
   Relates to: Problem Solving Task, Examination (written)