EEE8120 Resit Coursework

This coursework consists of two parts:
1. Developing a model of a physical layer wireless communication system in a chosen
simulation environment (i.e. MATLAB/Python/C/C++). The model will be developed
using a numerical approach and should include the subsystems outlined in Fig. 1 (50%):
a. A pseudorandom binary sequence generator.
b. An M-QAM modulator (M = 4, 16, 64).
c. The following wireless channel:
Path 1 2 3 4 5 6
Delay Spread (μs) 0.0 0.2 0.5 1.6 2.3 5.0
Average Power (dB) -3.0 0.5 -2.0 -6.0 -8.0 -10.0
d. Appropriate noise modelling, considering additive white Gaussian noise.
e. A feedforward transversal equaliser trained using the least mean squares (LMS)
algorithm. The student is expected to perform most of their investigation at this
part and therefore there are several areas to investigate:
i. The performance of an unequalised system vs an LMS equaliser
ii. Impact of the number of filter-taps on equalisation performance
iii. The impact on varying the step size parameter.
f. An M-QAM demodulator.
g. Bit-error rate testing for a reasonable range of Eb/N0 values.

Fig. 1: required subsystems
2. A 2000-word individual report, that should detail the development of the subsystems
and outline key results as well as discussing them (50%). Each of the individual
building blocks should be implemented individually as sub-systems and should also
work as an end-to-end system. The lectures provided the required theoretical
knowledge to implement each building block, along with the accompanying
recommended reference texts and reading.
Objectives:
1. Develop the above communication system in a simulation environment chosen by the
student (MATLAB/C/C++/Python, etc).
2. Implement quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM) fed by random data and model its
transmission over the above wireless channel.
3. Add additive white Gaussian noise to the model.
4. Implement a feedforward LMS equaliser and investigate its performance. This includes
modifying conditions such as the step size parameter, number of filter-taps and its
performance over a variety of signal-to-noise ratios.
5. Perform the demodulation of the recovered signal and compare it with the unequalised
signal and the various filter configurations to measure the bit-error rate.
The MATLAB portion of the coursework will be graded as follows:
? Correctness: the software produces an expected result that is repeatable and consistent
(30%).
? Completeness: the software includes all of the items listed above (20%).
? Documentation: the code is sufficiently annotated with comments to explain its
operation (20%).
? Independence: the student has avoided ‘built-in’ functions and developed/explained
each building block.

The report should contain light background theory, a description of the system, including any
fundamental mathematics, and should discuss the performance of the end-to-end system under
various channel and noise parameters. The report should consist of:
? Abstract (5%)
? Background theory (15%)
? Detailed description of system, including mathematics (25%)
? Results and discussion (35%)
? Conclusion (10%)
? References (10%) – must be complete, from highly ranked journals and conference
papers listed in IEEEXplore.

Lab submission:
i. Students are required to submit a soft copy of the report and the generated .m file(s) in
a .zip file on Canvas and to paul.haigh@newcastle.ac.uk on 06/11/2020.
ii. The soft copy of the report should be in .pdf format and should also include the
MATLAB/C/C++/Python code as an appendix.
iii. The file name of the .zip file should be EEE8120-X.zip where X is your name.
iv. Students are required to write mathematical formulae wherever required and references
should be cited in your report.
v. You must add comments to your MATLAB script as advised above. Marks will be
awarded for completeness of comments.
vi. Your lab report as a whole should be well written and easy to understand. Figures
should have captions and be properly labelled - use legends if required. All figures and
table should be cited in the text.
vii. SCHOOL POLICY FOR LATE SUBMISSIONS: If you submit your report late, but
within 7 days of the deadline, your mark will be capped at the pass mark (40% for
undergraduate students and 50% for postgraduate students). Any later than 7 days and
you will receive no marks.
viii. If you have a valid reason for not submitting your report on time, then you should
submit a personal extenuating circumstances (PEC) form to the School office,

Reference material
In order to understand the lab, the individual building blocks will be detailed in the EEE8120
lectures. And students may refer to the following texts, but students are not expected to read
the entirety of these texts, they should just be used for reference and ideas:

MATLAB specific:
Contemporary Communication Systems using MATLAB, John G. Proakis
Communication Systems Principles using MATLAB, John W. Leis

Fundamental reading:
Adaptive filter theory, Simon Haykin
Wireless Communications, Andrea Goldsmith
Communication Systems, Simon Haykin
Wireless Communications, A. F . Mollsch
Digital Communications, John G. Proakis

Advanced reading:
Wireless Communication Systems Design, H. Kim
Principles of Adaptive Filters and Self-Learning Systems, A. Zaknich
Neural Networks and Learning Machines, Simon Haykin
Kalman Filtering and Neural Networks, Simon Haykin
Adaptive Signal Processing: Next Generation Solutions, T. Adali

Report
Abstract 5 Pts: Full marks
The student has accurately captured
and summarised the contents/key
results of the report
2.5 Pts: Average marks
The student has somewhat
captured and summarised
the contents/key results of
the report
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to capture and
summarise the
contents/key results of
the report
Introduction/
Background
theory
15 Pts: Full marks
The student has done extensive
literature review into communication
systems and accurately described real
world scenarios with adequate details.
7.5 Pts: Average marks
The student has developed
some literature that details
scenarios that
communication systems
are used in but has failed to
capture the state-of-the-art.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to describe the
requirements for
communication systems
nor the context of the
report.
Methodology 25 Pts: Full marks
The student has accurately described
the system they have modelled
including mathematical descriptions
of the processes, with accurate and
correct references to literature to
support it. The student also clearly
defines the decisions they made when
describing the parameters of the
system tested and why, with support
from the literature. Additional marks
will be provided for students who
introduce concepts to the literature to
their models, including additional
modulation formats, equalisation
techniques and channel models.
12.5 Pts: Average marks
The student has described
the system under test but
has not convincingly
outlined why decisions
were made or used
appropriate references.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to describe the system
under test and any parts
of it.
Results/
Discussion
35 Pts: Full marks
Results are correct and agree with a
high degree of accuracy with the
theoretical results. The results of
decisions are discussed with
confidence and all results are
discussed in full.
17.5 Pts: Average marks
Results show a fair degree
of accuracy and
consistency with theory,
and the discussion is
sufficient to describe the
main observations but is
not technically detailed
enough.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to describe the results or
discuss them in any
manner.
Conclusion 10 Pts: Full marks
The student has accurately concluded
the report, including discussion of the
key technical results and why they are
important in the context of the system.
5 Pts: Average marks
The student has somewhat
concluded the report,
including discussion of the
key technical results and
why they are important in
the context of the system.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to conclude the report in
an engineering way.
References 10 Pts: Full marks
References are correctly assigned
throughout the report and refer to
IEEE/IET/other professional
publisher journals, conference papers
and books. Websites are not used.
5 Pts: Average marks
References are used in the
report.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to refer to the literature
at all.
Code
Correctness 30 Pts: Full marks
The software produces the expected
results which are consistently
reproducible, and they match the
results shown in the report. The
highest marks will be given to
students who implement additional
15 Pts: Average marks
The student has produced
results that are repeatable
and consistent with what is
expected according to
theory.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to produce results.
subsystems obtained through their
self-directed learning.
Completeness 20 Pts: Full marks
Software works in an end-to-end
manner.
10 Pts: Average marks
Individual sub-systems
work but not in a
completely end-to-end
manner.
0 Pts: No marks
The student has failed
to develop individual
subsystems.
Documentation 20 Pts: Full marks
Individual lines are commented and
fully describe what the code does with
a high degree of accuracy.
10 Pts: Average marks
Some lines are commented.
0 Pts: No marks
No lines include
comments.
Independence 30 Pts: Full marks
The student has implemented their
own codes (i.e. avoiding in-build
MATLAB functions), which operate
accurately. The highest marks will be
given to students who introduce
modulation formats/equalisers/multi-
path channels from the literature
through their own studies.
20 Pts: Average marks
The student has
implemented their own
codes (i.e. avoiding in-
build MATLAB functions)
sometimes, and has
sometimes used MATLAB
functions.
10 Pts: Low marks
The student has
exclusively used
MATLAB functions.