Digital communication

Digital communication techniques drive almost every part of the modern world. The vast volume of data that modern society depends on is transmitted across wired and wireless digital physical channels. This unit introduces the essential models and techniques for understanding channel operation, providing a foundation for you to design your own simple digital communication systems using simulation tools.

The key aspects of digital communication explored include modulation techniques such as quadrature modulation (QAM) and orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) and their representations, the effects of noise on communication channel performance via bit error rate (BER), along with techniques to reduce these effects. Information theory concepts such as capacity, diversity, and error correction codes will be introduced. The unit explores the trade-offs between these concepts and how they apply to channel modelling, ending in advanced topics such as multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antennas, which are crucial to the performance of modern wireless communication systems (5G/6G). 

This unit forms part of the "Telecommunications infrastructure" and “Networks for connectivity' minors but can be taken as a stand-alone elective unit.