ECE 380 Introduction to Communication Systems
Winter 2023 – January 05 to April 12
Class time: Tuesday, Thursday 11:00-12:20 Location: NRE 2-001
Instructor:
Xingyu Li, PhD,
780-492-8571
11-209 Donadeo Innovation Centre For Engineering
Office Hours: Tuesday/Thrusday 12:30pm-1:30pm
Course Description:
*3.8 (fi 8) (either term or Spring/Summer, 3-0-3/2) Basics of analog communication: amplitude, angle, and
analog pulse modulation; modulators and demodulators; frequency multiplexing. Basics of digital
communication: sampling, quantization, pulse code modulation, time division multiplexing, binary signal
Prerequisites: ECE 240 or E E 238. Credit may be obtained in only one of ECE 380 or E E 390.
Course synchronous and asynchronous content delivery schedule:
TA Information:
Lecture TA: Shuangzhi Li
Lab instructor: Martin Lee Bo Leng
Lab TAs: Shuangzhi Li Abbas Sheikh Ansari
Lab Sections:
Section Day Time Location
LAB H11 Monday 14:00 – 16:50 ETLC E4002
LAB H21 Tuesday 14:00 – 16:50 ETLC E4002
LAB H31 Wednesday 14:00 – 16:50 ETLC E4002
LAB H41 Thursday 14:00 – 16:50 ETLC E4002
Course Objectives & General Content:
* To introduce basic concepts and building blocks of communication systems and communication theory.
* To understand the principles for the operations of communication systems.
* To learn and analyze basic communication (and signal processing) technologies.
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 1
Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. Identify the elements of communication systems, analog and digital signals, signal-to-noise ratio, and
bandwidth,
2. Compute Fourier series and transforms of power and energy signals and analyze their power, energy
and bandwidth; calculate simple power spectrum and energy spectrum; identify and analyze linear
time-invariant systems,
3. Categorize amplitude modulation into double-sideband, single-sideband and others; compute power,
efficiency and bandwidth of AM signals; design and analyze AM modulation and demodulation circuits,
4. Compare and contrast phase modulation (PM) and frequency modulation (FM); compute bandwidth of
FM and PM signals; design simple phase locked loops and FM/PM demodulators,
5. Analyze the conversion of analog signals to digital format; design sampling rates and quantizers for
pulse code modulation (PCM) and variants; apply PCM for digital communications,
6. Recognize the professional use of analog and digital modulation techniques in telecommunication
engineering practice; perform basic digital encoding and decoding for error correction codes.
Marking Scheme:
Activity (A)Synchronous Due/Scheduled Weight
Homework One week after the
posting day
Quiz online 40%
Final exam April 24, 2023,
2:00pm-4:00pm
(tentative)
Lab One week after the lab
The Faculty recommended grade point average for a 300 level course is 3.0. Instructors have the leeway to
deviate from this average and can assign grades based on their own scheme. All grades are approved by
the department chair (or delegate). The office of the Dean has final oversight on all grades.
All term work solutions will be posted no later than the last day of classes. All term work will be returned to
students by the final day of classes, with the exception of major term work due in the last week of classes.
The latter will be returned by the day of the final examination or the last day of the examination period if
there is no final examination in the course as per university policy; instructors will make accommodations to
return these term work. It is the responsibility of the student to pick up all their term work at the specified
time and place. Any unreturned term work, shall be retained and then shredded six months after the
deadline for reappraisal and grade appeals. Final examinations will be kept for one year as required by
university guidelines and the Government of Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 2
Text and References (Mandatory):
Haykin and Moher, An Introduction to Analog and Digital Communications, 2nd Edition, Wiley, 2007.
Text and References (Recommended):
* Lathi and Ding, Modern Digital and Analog Communication Systems, 4th edition, Oxford University Press,
* Proakis and Salehi, Fundamentals of Communication Systems, 2nd Edition, Pearson 2014.
* Lathi, Signal Processing and Linear Systems, Oxford, 1998. (For background on signals and systems)
There are a large number of textbooks that cover an introduction to communication systems. Check our
library and other online resources. Refer to these supplementary materials for alternative treatment of the
concepts covered in this course.
Lab Information:
Lab Topic Date
Lab 1: Lab 1: Introduction to Signals & Measurement 2023-01-30
Lab 2: Lab 2: The Radio Spectrum 2023-02-13
Lab 3: Lab 3: Amplitude Modulation 2023-03-06
Lab 4: Lab 4: Frequency Modulation 2023-03-20
Lab 5: Lab 5: Pulse Code Modulation & Delta Modulation 2023-04-03
Did you know that the University of Alberta has various low-to-no-cost services to help students succeed? Visit
http://www.deanofstudents.ualberta.ca/ for information about the academic, wellness, and various other support
services available to U of A students. It’s never too early or too late to seek help!
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 3
Homework Assignments & Lab reports
! Homework assignments will be provided (on course webpage) on Tuesday and due the following Tuesday 4pm.
! Lab reports will be due at 4:00pm after one week of your lab date.
! Please submit your completed assignment and lab report on eClass.
! 3-DAY late policy: Each student is given 3 “grace days” (self-granted extensions) which you can use to give
yourself extra time without penalty for the whole term. Late work handed in when you have run out of grace is
discounted 50 % per day late.
! Group discussion is encouraged and is beneficial in understanding the course materials and developing problem-
solving skills. Direct copying of one another’s assignment is unacceptable. My recommendation is to discuss
approaches for the assignment problems, but solve them and write up your assignments independently.
More on Quiz and Final Exam
! Five 30-minute on-line quizzes.
! Final exam: 2-4pm, Monday, Apr. 24, 2023 (tentative, see beartracks).
A student who cannot write the final examination due to incapacitating illness, severe domestic affliction or other
compelling reasons can apply for a deferred final examination. Applications should be sent to the dean’s office.
See Calendar Sections 23.3 and 23.5.6.
Acknowledgements
Please note that this course was a joint development, some of the material for this course was prepared by Dr. Yindi
Jing, Dr. Masoud Ardakani, Dr. Chintha Tellambura, and their efforts in this regards are greatly appreciated. The
contributions are an integral part of the quality of the ECE380 course experience.
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 4
Tentative Course Schedule
Weeks Topics Concepts to be included
1 Introduction Communication system structure, applications, primary
resources and operational requirements for communica-
2.5 Fourier Representation of Sig-
nals and Systems – Review (Quiz
Fourier transform (FT) and properties, Fourier series,
Transmission of signals through linear time-invariant sys-
tems, Correlation and spectral density, energy signal,
power spectral density
2 Amplitude modulation (Quiz 2) Basic theory of amplitude modulation (AM), Different
modulation strategies in the AM family, demodulation de-
signs, implementations, Frequency-division multiplexing
2 Angle modulation (Quiz 3) Phase modulation (PM) and frequency modulation (FM),
Properties, Narrow-band FM and wide-band FM, Genera-
tion and demodulation
3 Pulse modulation: transition
from analog to digital communi-
cations (Quiz 4)
Sampling, Analog pulse modulation schemes, Quantiza-
tion, Digital pulse modulation schemes, Delta modulation,
Linear codes, Time-division multiplexing
2 Digital communications and
more (Quiz 5)
Motivations, Block diagram of digital communication sys-
tem, Source coding / decoding, Channel coding / de-
coding, Pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) and baseband
transmission, Latest topics in communication systems
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 5
ECE 380 Lab Calendar Winter 2023 (Tentative)
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
JAN 1 2 3 4 5
Winter classes begin
Labs can begin
Lab 1 (H11)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 1 (H21)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 1 (H31)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 1 (H41)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 2 (H11)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 2 (H21)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 2 (H31)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 2 (H41)
14:00 – 16:50
Family Day
Buildings Closed
Reading Week
No Classes/Labs
Reading Week
No Classes/Labs
Reading Week
No Classes/Labs
Reading Week
No Classes/Labs
Lab 3 (H11)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 3 (H21)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 3 (H31)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 3 (H41)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 4 (H11)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 4 (H21)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 4 (H31)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 4 (H41)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 5 (H11)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 5 (H21)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 5 (H31)
14:00 – 16:50
Lab 5 (H41)
14:00 – 16:50
Good Friday
Easter Monday
Last day of winter
term class
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 6
COURSE OUTLINE POLICY
The policy about course outlines can be found
in Course Requirements, Evaluation
Procedures and Grading of the University
Calendar, see https://calendar.ualberta.ca/
UNIVERSITY AND
FACULTY POLICIES
AUDIO/VIDEO RECORDING
Audio or video recording, digital or otherwise, of
lectures, labs, seminars or any other teaching
environment by students is allowed only with the prior
written consent of the instructor or as a part of an
approved accommodation plan. Student or instructor
content, digital or otherwise, created and/or used within
the context of the course is to be used solely for
personal study, and is not to be used or distributed for
any other purpose without prior written consent from the
content author(s).
Only those items specifically authorized by the instructor
may be brought into the exam facility. The use of
unauthorized personal listening, communication,
recording, photographic and/or computational devices is
strictly prohibited. Students should refrain from bringing
any unauthorized electronic device into an examination
room, including cell phones, high tech watches, high
tech glasses or other such devices.
RESPECT AND PROFESSIONALISM
The Faculty of Engineering is committed to fostering and protecting an equitable, inclusive, and
respectful work and study environment in line with University of Alberta policies and professional
engineering industry standards. University is an opportunity for students to explore areas of interest
and to potentially pursue a career in a specific field. The Faculty of Engineering prepares students to
uphold industry standards to become a Professional Engineer (P. Eng). Respect, professionalism, and
accountability must be upheld within the Faculty of Engineering.
Harassment and discrimination are serious issues that have a negative effect on culture and
therefore the Student Code of Behaviour states that no student shall discriminate against or harass
any person or group of persons. The Faculty expects an environment free of harassment,
discrimination, and bullying. Please refer to the University’s Discrimination, Harassment, and Duty to
Accommodate Policy for definitions.
SAFETY DURING
LEARNING ACTIVITIES
In all Faculty of Engineering courses,
labs, seminars or other learning
activities, safety is of paramount
importance. In some cases,
laboratory work in a program
requires high standards for risk
management to keep potential
hazards safely under control. Anyone
found to be unable to function
safely, due to intoxication,
harassment or discriminatory
behaviour, or other reasons, in the
class, lab, seminar or other learning
activity may be asked to leave or be
removed for their and the safety of
other participants and instructors in
alignment with the Student Code of
Behaviour. As members, or
prospective members, of the
engineering profession, it is your
responsibility to identify and inform
the proper authorities of an unsafe
work/learning environment.ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 7
Students at the University of Alberta must
read and follow, in its entirety, the
Code of Student Behaviour
Failure to know the code is not an acceptable
excuse for breaking the code.
The Code of Student Behaviour
should not be too hard to follow.
Listen to your instructor, be a good
person, and do your own work, as this
will lead you toward a path to
success. Failure to follow the code
can result in a grade of ‘F’ for the
course, a transcript remark,
suspension, and even expulsion from
the university.
Engineering students
studying in the province of
Alberta should also follow the
Code of Ethics
by The Association of
Professional Engineers and
Geoscientists of Alberta
“Integrity is doing the
right thing, even when
no one is watching”
C. S. Lewis
The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic
integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards
regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this
respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the
provisions of the Code of Student Behaviour (on the University Governance website)
and avoid any behaviour which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating,
plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence.
Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion
from the University.
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 8
HELP Edmonton Distress Line780-482-4357 (HELP)
There are a lot of services
available to students on
campus and in Edmonton,
and sometimes it’s hard to
know where to go. While
this isn’t a comprehensive
list, the services shown
here should at least give
you some ideas about
where to start. If you’re still
not sure, check out the
services just beneath this
box—they’ll give you the
guidance you’re looking for.
Empower Me (international)
1-833-628-5589
University Health Centre
An on-campus health clinic that provides medical services to staff, students,
and their spouses and children.
P: 780-492-2612 │ E:
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Sexual Assault Centre
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Peer Support Centre
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The Landing
Offers drop-in support on matters of gender and sexual diversity.
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M-R, hours vary
Interfaith Chaplains’ Association
Get guidance, care, and support, whether or not you identify with a
particular faith. Make an appointment.
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Also offers drop-in workshops. Book an initial consultation.
P: 780-492-5205
M, R, F, 8:00am-4:00pm; T, W, 8:00am-7:00pm
Student Service
The U of A’s central hub to
find the right help for your
uab.ca/ask
ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 9
Engineering Student Success Centre
Drop-in tutoring for first-year courses.
Academic Success Centre
Many services to maximize your academic success.
M-F, 8:30am-4:30pm
Academic Accommodations
Connects students with disabilities to accommodations.
M-F, 8:30am-4:30pm
Engineering Student Services
Drop-in, first-come, first-served advising.
Student Service Centre
For awards and other funding supports.
uab.ca/ask
Campus Food Bank
Many food support options available.
U of A webpage. Find student groups, local events, and
volunteer opportunities.
Arrange a time to socialize with a peer.
Helping Individuals at Risk
If you’re worried about someone
because of the things they’ve been
saying or doing, or there’s a noticeable
change in their behaviour (often in
multiple ways), contact HIAR, who will
protect your confidentiality and help
decide how best to support the person.
780-492-4372
CONFIDENTIAL
Office of Safe Disclosure
and Human Rights
The OSDHR advises confidentially on
sensitive issues you may not feel
comfortable solving on your own.
Contact the OSDHR if you want to get
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780-492-7357
Office of the Student Ombuds
Call for complex problems and conflict mediation.
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ECE 380 – Winter 2023 Page 10