CMME 302:

Digital Communications I
Dr. Peng-Yong Kong
Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
Khalifa University of Science, Technology & Research
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Email: pengyong.kong@kustar.ac.ae
Tel: +971.(0)2.501-8577

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Course Information:
Lecturer
Dr. Peng-Yong Kong
Contactable via email, or office phone.
Email: pengyong.kong@kustar.ac.ae
Phone: +971.(0)2.501-8577
Office: Room 309-C, Building H.
Consultation / Office Hours.
2:00PM - 5:00PM, Monday.
12:30PM 2:30PM, Wednesday.
Lab Instructor
Lina Mohjazi
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Motivation to study electrical communications:

Communications touch almost all aspects of our daily life, and
there is probably no day can go by without involving electrical
communications.
Mobility
(mps)
10,000

10

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0.1

10

100

CMME 302

1,000

10,000

data rate
(Mbps)

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Digital communications versus analog communications:

Analog communication systems are less expensive, but digital
communication systems offer higher efficiency, better performance,
and greater flexibility.
Higher Efficiency: Source Coding Theorem allows quantification of
the complexity of a given message source. We can exploit the
complexity by using compression to improve efficiency. In analog
communications, the only parameters of interest are message
bandwidth and amplitude. We cannot exploit signal structure to
achieve a more efficient communication system.
Better Performance: Noisy Channel Coding Theorem gives specific
criterion to formulate error-correcting codes that can bring us as
close to error-free transmission as we might want. In analog
communications, overcoming channel impairments for error-free
transmissions is impossible.
Greater Flexibility: Digital communication systems can transmit a
wider variety of signals than analog systems. Digital system can
transmit real-valued and symbolic-valued discrete-time signals. Any
signal that can be transmitted by analog means can be sent by
digital means, but not vice versa.
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About this course:

This course aims to provide the fundamentals of waveform
coding, channel coding and line coding techniques.
This course aims to provide the fundamentals and some depth
of analyzing baseband and bandpass digital signals
transmission and detection.

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Expected learning outcomes (Extract from course syllabus):

Understand waveform and channel coding techniques.
Understand the properties of different line codes.
Understand the basics of decision theory and use it for evaluating
the performance of baseband and bandpass digital communication
systems.
Discuss the advantages of digital regenerative repeaters over linear
amplifying analogue repeaters.
Show a good understanding of baseband and bandpass digital
signals and systems.
Evaluate the performance of the coherent detectors in AWGN
channel.
Design basic error detection and correction codes.
Provide hands-on experience in designing, implementing, and
testing of digital communication systems in the lab experiments.
Interpret experimental results and critically appraise them.
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Topics of study (Extract from course syllabus):

Waveform coding: Analogue to digital conversion, sampling,
aliasing, Nyquist rate, Pulse Code Modulation (PCM), signal to
quantization noise ratio (SNR), Companded PCM.
Bandwidth reduction techniques: Differential Pulse Code
Modulation (DPCM) and Delta Modulation (DM).
Line coding: Distortion due to AC coupling, different line codes
waveform, spectral characteristics, error detection capabilities
of some line codes, comparison of line codes performance.
Baseband pulse shaping: Pulse distortion due to channel
characteristics, Inter-Symbol-Interference (ISI), Nyquist filters
and raised cosine filters.
Equalization: Nonlinear characteristics of transmission
channels, function equalizing filter, characteristics of
equalizing filter.
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Topics of study (cont.):

Eye Diagram: Performance measurements using eye-diagrams,
amplitude noise and timing jitter.
Baseband transmission: Pulse transmission and detection,
AWGN and its effect on detection, center point detection,
error performance in the presence on noise, calculation of
probability of symbol error for an given signal to noise ratio.
Multi-hop links: Analogue vs. digital repeaters, evaluate the
performance of digital links composed of m-hop repeaters,
probability of symbol error for such links.
Bandpass Digital Modulation: ASK, FSK, PSK and DPSK, power
spectral densities, statistical decision theory and the optimum
receiver for digital modulation schemes.

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Topics of study (cont.):

Introduction to Channel Coding: Advantages, detection and
correction of errors, parity check codes, Hamming codes,
block code and cyclic codes.

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Prerequisites:
Modulation: CMME300.
Baseband transmissions (PCM, PAM, Noise effects).
Co-requisites:
None.
Course Presentation:
28 Lectures (75 minutes per lecture).
Course materials at Moodle.

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Computer Resources:
The course requires access to computer based digital
communication simulation tools.
Students are expected to try on their own Matlab exercises in
the text book.
Laboratory Experiment Topics:
There are 12 laboratory sessions for this course.
Lab sessions are covered by a different lab instructor.
The assessments and requirements for lab will be provided
separately by the lab instructor.
Laboratory Resources:
The details will be provided separately by the lab instructor.
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Assessments:
Coursework:
Quizzes: 15%
Examinations:
Midterm examination: 20%
Final examination: 40%
Laboratory Works: 25%
Laboratory Quizzes (10%)
Experiment Lab Report (60%)
Lab Examination (30%)

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 For mid-term exam and final exam, you may use a batteryoperated non-programmable calculator. Programmable
calculators and other computing or communication devices
are not permitted.
Text Books:
B. P. Lathi & Zhi Ding, Modern Digital and Analog
Communication Systems, 4th edition, Oxford University Press,
2009.

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Reference Materials:
A. Bruce Carlson, Paul B. Crilly, & Janet C. Rutledge,
Communication Systems: An Introduction to Signals and Noise
in Electrical Communication, 4th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2002.
I. A. Glover and P. Grant, Digital communication, Prentice Hall,
2000.
Andy Bateman, Digital Communications, Addison-Wesley,
1999.
Bernard Sklar, Digital Communications: Fundamentals and
Applications, Prentice Hall, 2nd edition, 2001.

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Disclaimer:
There may be unintentional errors in the course presentations
and distributed materials. Please inform me immediately if
you find any error. Thank you.

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