DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
Prof. Giulio Colavolpe - - 0521.90.5744

Main goal

The main goal of this course is to provide students with the ability to understand the foundations of modern digital communication systems and, in particular,

- digital communication systems in the presence of channels with memory;

- techniques for complexity reduction;

- advanced techniques for channel coding and decoding;

- performance analysis techniques for these systems.

Syllabus

Transmission systems with memory. General model of modulated signals. Sequence detection. Error probability evaluation for receivers based on sequence detection. Continuous phase modulations. Trellis-coded modulations. Reduced-state sequence detection. Linear and decisionfeedback equalization.

Advanced topics Sequence detection in the presence of unknown parameters. Per-survivor processing. Turbo codes and iterative decoding. Factor graphs and the sum-product algorithm. Low-density parity-check codes. Bit-interleaved coded modulation. Space-time codes.

Type of Lectures

Lectures and exercises (approximately with a ratio 80%-20%). For the latter, the teacher will solve on the blackboard the exercises assigned to the students one week in advance. In such a way, the students can try to solve them at home and will take advantage much more of the interaction with the teacher.

Exams

The exams will be scheduled on an individual basis. When ready, please contact the instructor by specifying the requested date. The exam consists of solving some proposed exercises and explaining theoretical details connected with them. Intermediate written exams will be considerated upon students' request.

Requirements

The basic knowledge of Estimation and Detection Theory is required.

Main Textbook


G. Colavolpe, Lectures Notes on Digital Communications.

Reference Textbooks

G. Vitetta, D. P. Taylor, G. Colavolpe, F. Pancaldi, P. A. Martin, Wireless Communications: Algorithmic Techniques, John Wiley & Sons, 2013.
G. Ferrari, G. Colavolpe, R. Raheli, Detection Algorithms for Wireless Communications, John Wiley & Sons, 2004.
J. R. Barry, E. A. Lee, D. G. Messerschmitt, Digital communication (third edition), Springer, 2004.
R. G. Gallager, Principles of digital communication, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
U. Madhow, Fundamentals of digital communication, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
S. Benedetto, E. Biglieri, V. Castellani, Digital Transmission Theory, Prentice Hall, 1987. Italian version: "Teoria della trasmissione numerica", Editoriale Jackson.
J. G. Proakis, Digital communications, McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., 1989.
U. Mengali and A. N. D'Andrea, Synchronization techniques for digital receivers, Plenum Press, 1997.
S. G. Wilson, Digital Modulation and Coding, Prentice-Hall, 1996.
U. Mengali, M. Morelli, Trasmissione numerica, McGraw-Hill, Milano, 2001.