Assignments and Lab

Laboratory Exercise

The laboratory exercise will be held in the Department's course lab, and you will be guided by a lab instructor. The exercise is performed in groups of two students. You will need to sign up for the exercise via a web-based registration service available from the course website. There is a deadline for signing up.

In the lab exercise a simple digital communications system is investigated. The error performance is tested using an additive white Gaussian noise channel in the lab. Initially the system is optimized and tested, and these results are compared with theory. Then, the parameters of the matched filter and synchronization are offset reflecting probable real world imperfections. Finally the “de-tuned” performance is measured.

You must come prepared to the lab exercise. That is, you must have completed the preparatory assignments prior to attaining the lab exercise. You will not be allowed to participate if you come unprepared. The lab memo for the exercise can be downloaded from the course website.

Laboratory Exercise Report

You are required to complete laboratory exercise report by the end of the laboratory session. The report will be graded pass/fail, based on how well you have reached the corresponding learning objectives. You need to demonstrate that you are able to perform simple experiments with a purpose-build communications hardware platform. You further need to demonstrate that you can obtain and analyse results from the experiment relevant for system performance. To do this, it is required that you prepare a series of analytical exercises prior to the experiment in order to have relevant theoretical data for comparison. The report is completed and handed in by the end of the lab exercise based on the report template format provided.

Project Assignment

The project assignment is a mandatory part of the course. You can complete the assignment either by yourself, or in a team of at most two students. The project assignment is a take-home project performed with the aid of a computer. Your work will be assessed based on a written report that you are required to hand in. Details can be found in the project memo. The memo and some initial matlab code for the project assignment can be downloaded from the course website.

The purpose of the exercise, which can be considered being a “hybrid” between a traditional laboratory experiment and a homework problem, is to illustrate some important aspects on analysis and simulations, both baseband and passband, of communication systems. As part of the project exercise, you will make some design choices for your communications system based on a series of specifications of target performance of the system. Aspects such as bit error probability, synchronization, carrier phase estimation, eye diagram, spectral properties, and practical imperfections due to filtering will be studied in a QPSK system operating over an AWGN channel. The problems addressed during regular tutorial sessions will provide you with sufficient background to make educated design choices. Preparing problem solutions in advance for the tutorial sessions will therefore give you an advantage when completing your project assignment.

The outcome of the exercise, in addition to increasing your knowledge of communication theory, is a short written technical report were you discuss your findings and comment on various aspects you find interesting. No list of questions is provided, but instead some general areas to be discussed in the report are provided. Thus, there are great opportunities to concentrate on those areas that you consider of most importance.

If you have worked in a team of two students you may choose to write one report each or one common report, with two authors. If you write separate reports, but have cooperated, then state who you have worked with. The report should be neatly structured, easy to follow and is not allowed to exceed six pages (excluding the cover page and the Matlab code). Unreadable reports will be failed immediately. Use a word-processor of your choice to write the report. Hand-written reports will not be approved. The language of the report can be either Swedish or English. A listing of the Matlab code written by the student(s) as part of the assignment must be enclosed as a separate appendix to the report.

Project Report

There is a deadline for handing in your project assignment report (hand in at STEX). Reports handed in too late will not be corrected. The report will be graded pass/fail, based on how well you have reached the corresponding learning objectives. You need to demonstrate you can develop and use simple software modules, implementing basic techniques used in digital communications systems. You further need to demonstrate you can make relevant and sound choices when faced with an incompletely defined communications systems design problem, as well as provide numerical and analytical evidence that your design meets the system performance targets and specifications.

The result of your project work is to be reported in a technical report, with any plots and/or tables you find necessary. A length of four or five pages should suffice, and the report is not to exceed six pages (excluding the cover page and the enclosed Matlab code). The text should be clearly structured and easy to read. A good structure of the presentation, adhering to what is common for technical and scientific publications, is therefore necessary. A good text by Ashby (available on the website) providing guidance for report writing can be downloaded from the course website.

Your results should also be possible to reproduce with reasonable effort based on your report. When grading the report, the technical content, as well as presentation and language qualities, are considered. At most two authors are allowed. Either Swedish or English is allowed as the language of choice. All Matlab code that has been written as part of the assignment must be enclosed as a separate enclosure (this is not considered to be part of the max-six-pages main report). The template provided with the project description will be used to grade the report. Use this template as cover page when you hand in the report.

Following the completion of the grading process, you can check out your report at STEX. There will be a second deadline for revising failed reports. This deadline will be announced when all reports have been checked and made available for potential revision. The second deadline, as well as any further information on this topic, will be posted on the course homepage. Note that reports that are failed a second time will not be considered for a new revision until the next time the course is given.