Week 1
Signals, LTI Systems & the Frequency Domain
Connect sinusoidal parameters, convolution, spectra, and wavelength before building a communication link.
Open lectureEE 351 · Electrical Engineering
Communication Systems
Explore how signals are represented, transformed, transmitted, and recovered—and connect the mathematics to plots, computation, and physical systems.
7 lectures availableWeeks 1–7
Lectures · Weeks 1–7
Follow the signal from representation to FM and television
Every available lecture is listed here in teaching order. Open any week directly or use the sequence below to see how the ideas connect.
- 01Represent signals
- 02Build the link
- 03Create sidebands
- 04Keep one sideband
- 05Build FM broadcasting
- 06Analyze FM
- 07Transmit television
Week 2
Communication Systems and the AM Radio Example
Trace a message through the transmitter, channel, and receiver using AM radio as the working system.
Week 3
Amplitude Modulation: From Baseband to Sidebands
Derive frequency translation, compare DSB-SC with DSB-TC, and interpret bandwidth and carrier power.
Week 4
From DSB to Hilbert-Transform SSB
Use quadrature branches and the Hilbert transform to retain USB or LSB and recover it coherently.
Week 5
FM Broadcasting Systems
Move from AM propagation to VHF FM, stereo multiplexing, RDS, SDR receivers, reuse, and regulation.
Open lectureWeek 6
Frequency Modulation (FM)
Derive instantaneous frequency, deviation, modulation index, FM spectra, and Carson bandwidth.
Open lectureWeek 7
Television Engineering — From Images to RF Signals
Follow a picture through raster scanning, interlacing, video bandwidth, NTSC colour multiplexing, and vestigial-sideband AM into a 6-MHz channel.
Laboratory · reading · downloads
Course resources
Open the course tools and files directly—no searching through lecture slides required.
Assessment · Exam preparation
Major Exam No. 1 — Guided Practice
Build AM and FM problem-solving skills with eight guided exercises, worked solutions, exam variations, and an 18-minute self-test.
Start guided practiceInteractive laboratory
Analog AM visualizer
Compare DSB and SSB waveforms, spectra, bandwidth, power, and receiver choices.
Open laboratoryMATLAB
Week 2 AM radio script
Generate a conventional AM waveform and inspect centered and single-sided spectra.
Download .m fileMATLAB
Week 3 DSB comparison
Compare DSB-SC and DSB-TC in time and frequency with the same source parameters.
Download .m fileMATLAB · optional
Week 7 television video chain
Turn an image row into a video waveform, check f = N/(2T) with an FFT, and compare DSB with VSB. Plain MATLAB, no toolboxes.
Download .m fileReference reading · PDF
Software Defined Radio using MATLAB & Simulink and the RTL-SDR
The local reference used in the AM, SSB, and FM broadcasting lectures.
Open PDFTechnical course index
Find a term, then jump to the lecture
Search abbreviations and concepts, or filter by topic. Links use stable lecture anchors where available.
Signals & systems
The representations and system ideas used by every later modulation topic.
Signal
A measurable quantity that carries information; sinusoidal signals are described by amplitude, frequency, and phase.
Week 1 · SinusoidsLTI
A system class defined by linearity and time invariance and characterized by its impulse response.
Week 1 · LTI systemsConvolution
The operation that combines an LTI system input with its impulse response to produce the output.
Week 1 · ConvolutionSpectrum
A frequency-domain view that separates a signal into its frequency components.
Week 1 · Spectrum viewsFFT
The efficient numerical algorithm used in MATLAB to compute samples of the discrete Fourier transform.
Week 1 · MATLAB spectrumSampling
Representing a continuous-time waveform by values taken at discrete times for computation and plotting.
Week 1 · Sampled sinusoidBaseband
The original message-frequency region before modulation moves the information around a carrier.
Week 2 · Signal vocabularyCarrier
A sinusoid whose parameter is varied so the message can occupy a selected transmission band.
Week 2 · Why modulation moves informationPassband
The frequency region occupied after a baseband message is translated around a carrier.
Week 2 · Signal vocabularyChannel
The physical medium between transmitter and receiver, where attenuation, noise, interference, or distortion may occur.
Week 2 · ChannelsRF
The frequency range used for radio transmission and for carrier-based transmitter and receiver stages.
Week 2 · AM radio chainTX
The transmitting end of a link, including the stages that prepare and radiate the modulated signal.
Week 2 · AM radio chainRX
The receiving end of a link, where the wanted channel is selected and the message is recovered.
Week 2 · AM radio chainAM & sidebands
Amplitude-modulation families, spectral components, and single-sideband generation.
AM
A modulation family in which the carrier amplitude varies with the message signal.
Week 2 · AM exampleDSB
An AM family that transmits both the upper and lower sidebands.
Week 3 · Two DSB formsDSB-SC
Both sidebands are transmitted without a carrier line; coherent recovery is required.
Week 3 · DSB-SCDSB-TC
Conventional AM with a transmitted carrier, allowing simple envelope detection.
Week 3 · DSB-TCSSB
An AM form that transmits one sideband, reducing the required bandwidth from 2B to B.
Week 4 · Why SSBSSB-SC
One sideband is transmitted with no carrier component, saving bandwidth and carrier power.
Week 4 · SSB-SCSSB-TC
SSB sent with a carrier or pilot reference to help receiver synchronization.
Week 4 · SSB-TCUSB
The part of an AM spectrum above the carrier frequency.
Week 4 · USB equationLSB
The part of an AM spectrum below the carrier frequency.
Week 4 · LSB equationHilbert transform
A frequency-dependent ±90° phase shift used with quadrature branches to cancel one sideband.
Week 4 · Hilbert responseMW
The broadcast band used for conventional AM examples and ground-wave coverage.
Week 5 · MW propagationFM & broadcasting
Angle modulation, broadcast propagation, stereo multiplexing, and receiver concepts.
FM
Angle modulation in which the carrier's instantaneous frequency follows the message.
Week 6 · FM definitionPM
Angle modulation in which the carrier phase varies directly with the message.
Week 6 · Angle modulationNBFM
FM with a small modulation index and a spectrum concentrated near the carrier.
Week 6 · Narrowband vs widebandWBFM
FM with a larger modulation index and multiple significant sidebands, as used in FM broadcasting.
Week 6 · Narrowband vs widebandMPX
The composite FM baseband carrying mono audio, stereo difference information, the pilot, and RDS.
Week 5 · Stereo multiplexRDS
A digital service around 57 kHz inside the FM multiplex, carrying station and programme data.
Week 5 · RDSSW
A long-distance broadcast service that uses ionospheric sky-wave propagation.
Week 5 · SW propagationPropagation
How radio energy travels; MW, SW, and VHF FM use different dominant paths and coverage patterns.
Week 5 · Three broadcast modesNoise & limiting
FM can reject many amplitude disturbances with a limiter because its information is carried in frequency.
Week 5 · Static comparisonCarson's rule
An engineering estimate of FM bandwidth: approximately twice the sum of peak deviation and message bandwidth.
Week 6 · Carson's ruleTelevision & video
Scanning, video bandwidth, colour multiplexing, and vestigial-sideband channels (historical analog System M).
Raster scanning
Left-to-right, top-to-bottom scanning that turns a picture into one time-varying voltage.
Week 7 · The rasterComposite video
Brightness, blanking, sync and colour burst combined in one signal; one line lasts 63.56 µs.
Week 7 · Anatomy of one lineInterlacing
Two fields per frame, each carrying every second line, to hide flicker without doubling bandwidth.
Week 7 · Progressive vs interlacedNTSC
The analog colour television system: 525 lines, 29.97 frames/s, 15.734 kHz, 6-MHz System M channel.
Week 7 · NTSC timing numbersVideo bandwidth
Highest useful video frequency, f = N/(2T_active); about 4.2 MHz for NTSC.
Week 7 · f = N / 2TLuminance & chrominance
Y′ is the brightness signal for monochrome compatibility; I and Q carry colour.
Week 7 · Luminance Y′Colour subcarrier & burst
3.579545-MHz subcarrier carrying quadrature I/Q, and the burst that gives the receiver its phase reference.
Week 7 · The colour burstVSB
Vestigial-sideband AM: one full sideband plus a controlled vestige of the other; used for analog TV pictures.
Week 7 · VSB filter conditionTV channel
The 6-MHz System M channel: picture carrier at +1.25 MHz, FM sound 4.5 MHz above it.
Week 7 · Anatomy of a 6-MHz channelSDR & laboratory
The computational and radio tools used to inspect real and simulated communication systems.
SDR
A radio in which functions traditionally implemented in hardware are performed in software.
Week 5 · SDR receiverADALM-Pluto
The SDR platform used in the Week 5 receiver and transmitter signal chains.
Week 5 · Pluto receiverMATLAB
The computational environment used to construct signals, calculate spectra, and compare modulation forms.
Week 1 · MATLAB workflowSimulink
The block-diagram environment used to follow the FM receiver path from SDR samples to stereo and RDS.
Week 5 · Simulink receiverStandards & regulation
The international and national framework around broadcast spectrum use.
CST
Saudi Arabia's national communications regulator and the national authority in the Week 5 spectrum hierarchy.
Week 5 · Regulatory hierarchyITU
The international body that coordinates spectrum use and publishes radio recommendations.
Week 5 · ITU-R recommendationsNo index terms match that search and topic.
Official curriculum
Course learning outcomes
These seven statements follow the current EE 351 Curriculum Intelligence Portal report.
CLO 1.1
Explain modulation and demodulation techniques using time- and frequency-domain representations.
CLO 2.1
Formulate mathematical models for signal transmission through various channels.
CLO 2.2
Solve communication system problems from specified system parameters and requirements.
CLO 2.3
Evaluate various channel effects on communication system performance using analytical and simulation methods.
CLO 2.4
Apply various modulation techniques and evaluate their characteristics using analytical, simulation, or laboratory methods.
CLO 3.1
Design communication systems through team-based laboratory experiments using software-defined radio.
CLO 3.2
Communicate the experimental results of communication systems as part of a team using appropriate techniques adapted to a range of audiences.
Course introduction
From a message to a transmitted signal
This learning space complements—not replaces—the classroom conversation.
We will move between physical intuition, mathematical representation, interactive plots, and MATLAB experiments. The aim is to see a communication system as a connected chain rather than a collection of isolated formulas.
Official course description
In this course, we focus on signal transforms and continuous-wave modulation, which is the basic operation of analog communication systems. Initially, we give the students an insight and understanding of signals classifications, Fourier series, Fourier transform, spectrum analysis, and explore their applications in the context of analog communication systems. We then cover thoroughly amplitude modulation including the generation and reception of double-side band, single side-band, and vestigial side-band. We also cover the angle modulations (phase and frequency), the generation both the narrow and wide-band angle modulation.
How we will learn
Think, visualize, compute
Prepare & discuss
Flipped classroom, interactive lectures, and guided problem solving.
Simulate & experiment
Computer-based learning and laboratory experimentation.
Design & communicate
Project-based learning and technical communication activities.
Official assessment methods
Quizzes; homework and classwork assignments; major and final exams; simulation/computational assignments; oral technical presentation; laboratory practical assessment; laboratory reports; and design project assignment.
This list reports methods only. The curriculum record supplies no weights here.