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ECE2041

Telecommunications
Information for students at Sunway Campus
Synopsis
This unit provides an introduction to the important aspects of modern telecommunication systems. Particular emphasis is given to digital communication systems including the Internet. The concept of layered architectures will be introduced. Topics will include modulation techniques, source and error coding, multiplexing, peer to peer protocols, LAN protocols, packet switching, TCP/IP architecture and network security.

Mode of Delivery Workload Unit Relationships Prerequisites Chief Examiner Unit Coordinator: Campus: Phone: Email: Office hours: Campus Coordinator Campus: Phone: Email: Office Hours: Other Academics: Campus: Phone: Email: Consultation hours:

On campus 3 hours lectures, 2 hours laboratory, 1 hour tutorial and 6 hours of private study per week Prohibitions ECE2401, TEC2141 and TRC4801 None Prof. Arthur Lowery Prof. Jean Armstrong Clayton +61 3 9905 5355 Jean.Armstrong@monash.edu

Dr. Mohamed Hisham Jaward Sunway +60 3 5514 6204 mohamed.hisham@eng.monash.edu.my (posted on the office door, Room 5-5-36) Dr. Rajendran Parthiban Sunway +60 3 5514 6259 parthiban.rajendran@monash.edu (posted on the office door, Room 5-5-29)

SEMESTER ONE 2011

www.monash.edu

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ACADEMIC OVERVIEW Unit Learning Outcomes At the conclusion of this unit, students should be able to: 1. Analyse basic principles of modern data communication and telecommunication networks 2. Apply the principles to wider engineering environment including networking, information representation and transmission 3. Choose appropriate methods to solve communication related problems 4. Present technical content coherently in written and verbal forms 5. Work independently and in multi-cultural teams

Program Education Objectives Monash has defined a set of Monash Graduate Attributes, which encompass more generic aspects of knowledge, skills and attitudes. Monash prepares its graduates to be: 1. responsible and effective global citizens who: a. engage in an internationalised world b. exhibit cross-cultural competence c. demonstrate ethical values 2. critical and creative scholars who: a. produce innovative solutions to problems b. apply research skills to a range of challenges c. communicate perceptively and effectively The School of Engineering has adopted these attributes as its initial Program Education Outcomes (PEOs).

Program Outcomes The School of Engineering has developed a set of generic Program Outcomes (POs) for all of its graduates based on the Malaysian Engineering Accreditation Councils manual. Program Outcomes
PO1 Ability to apply knowledge of basic science and engineering fundamentals;

Activities used in this unit to develop program outcomes


Applying the lecture information about the Internet and about modulation theory to practical problems (discussed and assessed) Competence in modern telecommunication systems including the Internet (discussed and assessed) Tutorial, laboratory work and mini-project (discussed and assessed)

PO2 In-depth technical competence in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering discipline PO3 Ability to undertake problem identification, formulation and solution

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PO4 Ability to utilise a systems approach to design and operational performance

Knowledge of overall telecommunication systems/network structure and use of appropriate metrics such as bit error rate to measure performance (discussed and assessed) Learning to use software tools for analysis of communication protocol operations and performance (discussed and assessed) (For Sunway students a visit to a MobileTelecommunication Company)

PO5 An understanding of the principles of sustainable design and development PO6 An understanding of professional and ethical responsibilities and commitment to them PO7 Ability to communicate effectively, not only Oral presentation, written report, project with engineers, but also with the community at large work in pairs. (moderately discussed and assessed) PO8 Ability to function effectively as an individual, and in multi-disciplinary and multicultural teams PO9 An understanding of the social, cultural, global, and environmental responsibilities of the Professional Engineer PO10 A desire to undertake lifelong learning, and capacity to do so Working in pairs in labs and on projects (moderately discussed and assessed) Discussions in lectures of ethical issues associated with the Internet (very briefly discussed, not assessed) Unit is structured to encourage students to develop skills in using textbook, MATLAB help files. Project requires independent research. (moderately discussed and assessed)

Relationship between Unit Learning Outcomes and Program Outcomes


PO1 LO1 LO2 LO3 LO4 LO5 3 3 2 2 3 PO2 3 PO3 PO4 3 PO5 PO6 PO7 PO8 PO9 PO10

Key 1 2 3

No Emphasis Very little emphasis Moderate emphasis Strong emphasis

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Assessment Summary

Assessment Task
1. Laboratory preliminary work (due online 10 pm of the day before the scheduled laboratory) Laboratory results recorded in laboratory notes. Eight laboratories 1% each 2. Tutorials (participation and presentation) 2. Mid semester test 3.Oral presentation and written report for mini-project 4. Total continuous assessment 5. Examination (3 hours) Total assessment

Value
8%

Due Date
Before and at scheduled lab session (week 2-11)

2% 10% 10% 30% 70% 100%

At scheduled tutorial session (week 2-11) Tutorial session see unit schedule (week 7) As notified (week 11)

The unit coordinator reserves the right to moderate the assessments given by the individual tutors. This process will occur at the end of the semester. Examination: (3 hrs), 70% . Continuous assessment: 30%. Students must achieve a mark of 45% in each of these components and an overall mark of 50% to achieve an overall pass grade.

Relationship between Unit Learning Outcomes and Assessments


No. Learning Objective Labs Tutorials Assessment MidSemester Test C3 Miniproject Final exam C3

3 4 5

Analyse basic principles of modern data communication and telecommunication networks Apply the principles to wider engineering environment including networking, information representation and transmission Choose appropriate methods to solve communication related problems Present technical content coherently in written and verbal forms Work independently and in multi-cultural teams

P2

C3

P2

C3

C3

C3

C2 A1 A1 A1

C2

C2, P2 A1 A1

C2

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Blooms Taxonomy: A committee of colleges, led by Benjamin Bloom, identified three domains of educational activities: Cognitive: mental skills (Head) Affective: growth in feelings or emotional areas (Heart) Psychomotor: manual or physical skills (Hand) The cognitive domain involves knowledge and the development of intellectual skills. This includes the recall or recognition of specific facts, procedural patterns, and concepts that serve in the development of intellectual abilities and skills. The affective domain includes the attitudes with which someone deals with things emotionally, such as feelings, values, appreciation, enthusiasms and motivations. The psychomotor domain includes physical movement, coordination, and use of the motor-skill areas. Development of these skills requires practice and is measured in terms of speed, precision, distance, procedures, or techniques in execution. (Source: http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/bloom.html) Key for the table above: Psychomotor: P1 (Low), P2 (Medium), P3 (High), Affective: A1 (Low), A2 (Medium), A3 (High), Cognitive: C1 (Low), C2 (Medium), C3 (High)

Teaching and Learning Method


The unit consists of lectures, laboratory classes and tutorial/problem solving classes. Students working in pairs will also undertake an open-ended mini project.

Tutorial allocation
There are 2-hours of laboratory classes scheduled each week, commencing in week 2. Students must enrol in one laboratory class only using Allocate Plus. Students not allocated to a particular class will not be accepted into that session without the written consent of the unit co-ordinator. Once a particular session is full, no more students will be accepted, unless evidence is shown that timetabling means that is the only session possible.

Communication, participation and feedback


Monash aims to provide a learning environment in which students receive a range of ongoing feedback throughout their studies. In this unit it will take the form of group feedback via practice classes, individual feedback, peer feedback, self-comparison, verbal and written feedback, discussions in class, as well as more formal feedback related to assignment marks and grades. Students/You are encouraged to draw on a variety of feedback to enhance their/your learning.

Feedback Our Feedback to You Feedback will be in the form of marks for weekly laboratory work, informal verbal feedback from tutors, demonstrators and lecturers in laboratory classes and problem classes. Feedback on midsemester test will be in the form of access to the marked papers and verbal explanations of marking scheme. Feedback on short project will be in the form of a mark and a short written comment typically one or two sentences which will be provided through MUSO. Marked reports will not be returned to students.

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Your Feedback to Us Monash is committed to excellence in education and regularly seeks feedback from students, employers and staff. Feedback is welcome at any time throughout the semester. If there are other ways that you think we can improve the unit, please let us know. Post a message on the MUSO message board or send an email to the unit or campus coordinator. One of the key formal ways students have to provide feedback is through SETU, Student Evaluation of Teacher and Unit. The Universitys student evaluation policy requires that every unit is evaluated each year. Students are strongly encouraged to complete the surveys. The feedback is anonymous and provides the Faculty with evidence of aspects that students are satisfied and areas for improvement. For more information on Monashs educational strategy, and on student evaluations, see: http://www.monash.edu.au/about/monash-directions/directions.html http://www.policy.monash.edu/policy-bank/academic/education/quality/studentevaluation-policy.html Previous Student Evaluations of this unit If you wish to view how previous students rated this unit, please go to https://emuapps.monash.edu.au/unitevaluations/index.jsp Required Resources Laboratory Workbook: All of the laboratory notes will be available at the beginning of semester in one bound book. Students will record their experimental results in this book. This will provide a resource which students can refer to throughout their course. Each student will be issued a copy in the first laboratory session (week 2). An electronic version is also available on MUSO for reference. Recommended Resources The following textbook will be used throughout the unit: Alberto Leon-Garcia and Indra Widjaja, Communication Networks: Fundamental Concepts and Key Architectures, McGraw Hill, 2004, second edition. Field trips An optional excursion will be available to Malaysian students to a Mobile Telecommunication company. Space is limited and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis. Further details will be issued in lectures. Examination material or equipment
Calculators are NOT permitted in the examination for this unit.

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Unit schedule 2011


Week 1 28Feb Lecture Introduction to unit. Evolution of communication networks, telephone network. Evolution of the Internet. Elements of networks, future networks. Introduction to layered architectures. 2 7March Hardware architecture of the Internet: Operational principles of packet switching networks and routing Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Safety, Lab introduction 1.MATLAB revision (Digital Sampling Oscilloscope) 2. Wireshark: Packet sniffing and Spying + Web Browsing (Two chapters of lab notes). 3. Wireshark: ping and tracert Tutorial No tutorial Lab No lab Assignment activity

3 14March

Software architecture of the Internet: TCP/IP protocol suite.

4 21March

TCP/IP protocol suite contd.

5 28March

Digital representation of information. Digital transmission, Comparison of analog and digital communication. Error detection, Hamming code, error correction Digital representation of analog signals, sampling theory, quantization noise, multiplexing

4. Wireshark: ARP

6 4April 7 11April

Characterization of channels. Fundamental limits to transmission Line coding. Fundamentals of modulation. Modems and digital modulation Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures

5. Wireshark: TCP, FTP

6. Image Source coding

Mid semester test (April 14 TBC)


th

8 18Apr

Transmission media: the spectrum, twisted pair, coaxial cables, optical fiber, radio transmission

Site visit to a Mobile Telecommunica tion Company (voluntary, limited numbers)

Mid-semester break 22-29 April

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9 3May

Communications in the presence of noise. Bit error rates for Gaussian noise. Wireless Communications and multipath. OFDM Circuit switching, telephone network, signaling, cellular telephone network, emerging communication systems Multiple Access/Random Access algorithms and protocols.

Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures Weekly tutorials will be held with problems given on the topics covered in the lectures

7. Error Correcting Codes

10 10May

8.VoIP 1 and 2

11 17May

Presentation of mini-projects

Mini-projects

12 24May

LAN protocols, Ethernet.

SWOT VAC Examination period LINK to Assessment Policy: http://www.p olicy.monash .edu/policybank/academ ic/education/ assessment/ assessmentincourseworkpolicy.html

ASSESSMENT REQUIREMENTS Assessment Tasks Assessment Task 1: Weekly laboratory class Detailed instructions for each experiment are available in the Telecommunications Laboratory Notes which will be available at the start of semester. Each student must bring their copy of the notes to each laboratory session and record their results in the spaces provided. By 10 pm on the day before the scheduled laboratory session, each student must complete the on-line preliminary test available through MUSO. No student will be admitted to the laboratory if they have failed to complete the appropriate preliminary test. For each lab 0.2 1.25% is allocated to the preliminary work and 0.8 1.25% for their experimental work. Students must not leave the laboratory before having their work marked. Assessment Task 2: Problem-based tutorial session In week 2, students will be divided into groups. Each group will be assigned a question to solve. The group members can discuss ways to solve the problem assigned to them. One member from selected groups will present to the class on how

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they reached their solution, and explain the link between the solution and the theory covered in lectures. The marks will be given based on participation in discussions and method of problem-solving Assessment Task 3: Mid Semester Test. For Sunway students, the mid-semester test will be held in the scheduled lecture class session in Week 7 Thursday 10-11, April 14th. Written test based on lectures and problems in weeks 1-6. Assessment Task 4: Mini-project Students working in pairs will undertake a short project. The projects will involve undertaking a short project on a telecommunications topic (e.g. writing some MATLAB programs to simulate an aspect of telecommunications), writing a short report on the topic, and presenting a short talk on the topic during scheduled laboratory classes (see unit schedule). The marking criterion is described in the detailed instructions which will be provided through MUSO. Examination(s) There will be an end of semester examination for this unit. See assessment summary for weighting. Assignment submission Online Submission: If Electronic Submission has been approved for your unit, use only the MUSO assignment submit tool. Do not submit files attached to email. Log into MUSO http://my.monash.edu.au and select the unit for which you wish to submit work. Unless you have made prior arrangements with your lecturer, only the following file formats will be accepted: .doc, .rtf, .txt, .pdf, .html; It is essential you adhere to the following format for the naming of the file you wish to submit: o it must contain your Authcate name; and o there must be no space in the filename. You will receive a confirmation message within MUSO once you have successfully submitted your assignment within the electronic dropbox. Comments and grading of your assessment will be communicated to you either by MUSO, email, or post.

Instructions for submitting an assignment electronically using MUSO are found at http://www.monash.edu.au/muso/support/students/assignment.html Extensions and penalties

University and faculty policy on assessment


Due dates and extensions
The due dates for the submission of assignments are given in the previous section. Please make every effort to submit work by the due dates. Students are advised to NOT assume that granting of an extension is a matter of course. If you need an extension for any of the assignments, you must submit a written request 48hours before the due time and date, and attach supportive evidence such as medical certificate.

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The form should preferably be forwarded as an email attachment, sent to the campus coordinator. The email should be sent from your University email address with your name typed in lieu of signature. Note that other lecturers cannot grant extensions. Lecturer-in-charge (campus coordinator) will indicate at the time of granting the extension whether any penalty in marks will apply to the submitted work. If an extension is granted, the approval must be attached to the assignment.

Late assignment
No extensions will be given except in exceptional circumstances. Deferred tests and examinations may be granted in cases of extenuating personal circumstances such as serious personal illness or bereavement. Remember, you are required to keep an up-to-date copy of all submitted assignments to safeguard against the loss of work through accident or error.

Return dates
Students can expect assignments to be returned within two weeks of the submission date or after receipt, whichever is later. Assessment for the unit as a whole is in accordance with the provisions of the Monash University Education Policy at: http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/assessment/index.html Returning assignments All marks will be returned through MUSO. Mid semester test scripts will be returned only during one of the weekly problem classes. Scripts will be returned only to the individual student concerned (not to their friends). Referencing requirements IEEE referencing will be used for the report associated with the short project. More details are available in the detailed instructions for the project which will be available through MUSO. OTHER INFORMATION Policies Monash has educational policies, procedures and guidelines, which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the Universitys academic standards, and to provide advice on how they might uphold them. You can find Monashs Education Policies at: http://policy.monash.edu.au/policy-bank/academic/education/index.html Key educational policies include: Plagiarism (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/conduct/plagiarism-policy.html) Assessment (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/assessment/assessment-in-coursework-policy.html) Special Consideration (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/assessment/special-consideration-policy.html) Grading Scale (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/assessment/grading-scale-policy.html)

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Discipline: Student Policy (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/conduct/student-discipline-policy.html) Academic Calendar and Semesters (insert URL); Orientation and Transition (insert URL); and Academic and Administrative Complaints and Grievances Policy (http://www.policy.monash.edu/policybank/academic/education/management/complaints-grievance-policy.html)

Student Services The University provides many different kinds of support services for you. Contact your tutor if you need advice and see the range of services available at www.monash.edu.au/students The Monash University Library provides a range of services and resources that enable you to save time and be more effective in your learning and research. Go to http://www.lib.monash.edu.au or the library tab in my.monash portal for more information. Students who have a disability or medical condition are welcome to contact the Disability Liaison Unit to discuss academic support services. Disability Liaison Officers (DLOs) visit all Victorian campuses on a regular basis Website: http://adm.monash.edu/sss/equity-diversity/disabilityliaison/index.html; Telephone: 03 9905 5704 to book an appointment with a DLO; Email: dlu@monash.edu Drop In: Equity and Diversity Centre, Level 1 Gallery Building (Building 55), Monash University, Clayton Campus.

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