Communication Electronics

Subject description

Components of information-communication systems for signal acquisition, computation and communication.

Digital systems: principles of digital systems, CPU, memory, input-output units. Microprocessor: evolution of classical architectures and alternative parallel architectures.

Internet of things architecture, data processing at the node, edge and cloud levels. Internet of things communication protocols: data exchange, quality of service. Tradeoff between data computation and communication in mobile systems.

Consumer electronics and embedded systems: optimized power consumption, product life cycle, sub-system optimization, level of integration and impact on features and costs. Information-communication systems: architecture of communications systems, hardware and software.

The subject is taught in programs

Objectives and competences

The course deepens the understanding of electronic circuits operation, which are used as building blocks in the implementation of modern ICT systems. Course addresses classic microprocessor architectures as well as alternative parallel architectures for artificial intelligence support. Special attention is devoted to the Internet of Things architecture, where we are interested in the design of the node and its connection to the system. In the course, the student creates a simple prototype of a system with a selected computer architecture and demonstrates it for a specific use case.

Teaching and learning methods

The lectures provide a theoretical background on selected topics together with simple practical demonstrations. A complete study material is available online.

Practical work is being performed in the laboratory environment. Individual projects are based on selected topics and presented by students. Part of the pedagogical process will be carried out with the help of ICT technologies and the opportunities they offer.

Expected study results

After successful completion of the course, students should be able to:

Analyse operation of electronic components and their role in information-communication systems.

Use of tools for prototyping of Internet of things systems.

Design of selected analog/digital circuits for signal acquisition and processing.

Comprehensively explain the process of signal acquisition and processing with electronic circuits.

Connecting theoretical foundations with the analysis of selected commercial products.

Assess the technological complexity of selected case studies.

Basic sources and literature

L. Frentzel, Principles of Electronic Communication Systems, 3. izdaja, 2007.
R. Tokheim, Digital electronics: principles and applications, 8th edition, McGraw-Hill, 2013.
Tamboli A. Build Your Own IoT Platform: Develop a Flexible and Scalable Internet of Things Platform. Apress Media LLC, 2022.
Lin, L., Liao, X., Jin, H., & Li, P. (2019). Computation offloading toward edge computing. Proceedings of the IEEE, 107(8), 1584-1607.
Mammela, A., & Anttonen, A. (2017). Why will computing power need particular attention in future wireless devices?. IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine, 17(1), 12-26.