Acquiring knowledge about development and usage of communication system digital representation/computer model. Acquiring necessary skills for communication system simulation and performance evaluations using MATLAB simulation environment on general purpose computers. Developing skills for implementation of the developed model on a reconfigurable hardware platform (FPGA / SDR).

On successful completion of this subject, students should be able to: interpret the way a communication system is simulated on a universal computer platform; integrate a complete simulation model of a communication system within MATLAB environment; adjust and tune the parameters of the building blocks within the complex system; evaluate the performance of the designed communication system using a simulation environment; organize and analyze the results of simulations of communication systems; implement the developed model on a reconfigurable hardware platform (FPGA/SDR).

Introduction: the adequacy of simulations for the design and performance evaluation of Communication Systems (CS), the hierarchical decomposition of CS in simulations. Application of simulations in CS design: hardware and software simulation environment. Methodology of modeling and simulation: basic concepts, structure development, generic model of communication link, simulation flow. Representation and modeling of deterministic signals and LTI systems (analytical basics). Specificity of time-varying and non-linear systems. The use of random variables and random processes in simulations. Simulation of transmitting and receiving subsystems: formatting and souce coding, channel coding, communication channel, adaptation to the transmission medium (modulation, filtering), multiplexing / multiple access, synchronization. Calibration of simulations: adjusting the signal-to-noise ratio. Simulation and performance evaluation techniques: Monte Carlo. Errors in simulations. Validation of models and simulation results. Performing simulation experiments in MATLAB. Examples of implementation of basic communication systems on a reconfigurable hardware platform (FPGA/SDR).

Lectures, computer and lab exercises. Individual work (research and projects) and active learning.