ELT-40007 Basic Course on Communications Engineering, 5 cr
Additional 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.
Person responsible
Markus Allen, Mikko Valkama
Lessons
| Implementation | Period | Person responsible | Requirements |
| ELT-40007 2018-01 | 3 |
Markus Allen |
Project work and exam. (It is also possible to achieve course grade 1 without taking an exam by actively participating to lectures and making the project work.) |
Learning Outcomes
After completing the course, the student 1) understands the significance of communications engineering in modern society and knows the 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 analog and digital modulations, 5) knows the essential operational blocks of transmitters and receivers and is able to explain their general working principles, 6) is able to analyze TCP/IP protocols and traffic in a communications network.
Content
| Content | Core content | Complementary knowledge | Specialist knowledge |
| 1. | The basics of analog and digital transmission. The operational blocks of transmitter and receiver and their functions. | ||
| 2. | Transmission media: copper wires and optical fibers. Radio waves and antennas. | ||
| 3. | Analog and digital modulations. Signal-to-noise ratio. Symbol error ratio. | ||
| 4. | Wired and wireless communications networks. Synchronization and frame structures. Multiplexing. Local area network and the protocols of internet. | ||
| 5. | The future of communications engineering and main technological trends. |
Instructions for students on how to achieve the learning outcomes
The exam evaluates how well the student has learned the core content of the course. The laboratory part of the course assignment and the related written report reveals student's ability to apply the learned core content to practical measurement tasks.
Assessment scale:
Numerical evaluation scale (0-5)
Partial passing:
Study material
| Type | Name | Author | ISBN | URL | Additional information | Examination material |
| Book | Data and Computer Communications | William Stallings | 978-1-292-01438-8 | No | ||
| Lecture slides | Lecture slides of Basic Course on Communications Engineering | Markus Allen | Yes |
Prerequisites
| Course | Mandatory/Advisable | Description |
| ELT-10002 Signaalit ja mittaaminen | Advisable | 1 |
| ELT-10017 Signals and Measurements | Advisable | 1 |
1 . Finnish or English implementation
Additional information about prerequisites
Or equivalent knowledge acquired in other prior studies, essentially meaning basic math related to sinusoidal signals.
Correspondence of content
| Course | Corresponds course | Description |
| ELT-40007 Basic Course on Communications Engineering, 5 cr | ELT-40006 Basic Course on Communications Engineering, 4 cr |