The class “Fundamentals of Telecommunication Engineering” is one of the two introductory classes for the new “Smart Infrastructures” programme at Politecnico di Torino”. It gives the fundamental know-how on modern telecommunications systems for the students that, coming from non-telecom oriented Master Degrees, join the “Smart Infrastructures” programme. Modern society relies on real-time world-wide connectivity based on the information transmission using digital electro-magnetic signals and networks. Digital transmission, digital signal processing and networking are techniques used by commodities such as internet-connected devices (smart-phones, tablets, PCs, smart-TVs, etc…), satellite navigation systems and audio and video processing devices. This course provides a holistic overview on the fundamental concepts and techniques that form the basis of modern digital communication networks. With a bottom-up approach, the students will gain a basic knowledge on how information is generated, transmitted, transformed, digitized and encapsulated in different network layer protocols to deliver and exchange data. Through a combination of theoretical aspects and practical examples, the students will learn how to determine the basic quality metrics related to communication systems and networks. Upon successful completion of this course, the students will gain knowledge of the following topics related to signals and systems, digital communications, and networking.

• Knowledge on fundamental characteristics of computer networks • Knowledge on network protocols and ability to discuss their performance • Knowledge of the fundamental properties of signals and linear time invariant (LTI) systems in frequency and time domains • Ability to transform and analyze a continuous or discrete signal (deterministic or stochastic) in time and frequency domains. • Fundamental concepts of information theory and digital communications. • Knowledge of the basics models of a transmission channel and its impairments • Knowledge of the quality of transmission metrics used to characterize digital communications.

The student should be familiar with basic physics concepts, fundamentals of Calculus (including trigonometric, exponential and logarithmic functions, with their properties), fundamental notions of linear algebra as well as probability theory and statistics.

Classroom lessons will cover the following topics (order of presentation might be subjected to variations; CFUs are indicative and variations are possible): • Computer networks: network topologies, switching techniques (circuit and packet), multiplexing and multiple access techniques, service models (client-server, peer-to-peer), layered protocol architectures, traffic characterization and QoS requirements. (1.2 CFU) • Principles of error recovery and flow control, layer 2 (Data link) protocols, local area networks. (0.8 CFU) • Routing algorithms and techniques. Addressing. Layer 3 (Network) protocols: IP, ICMP, ARP, and DHCP protocols. (1,0 CFU) • Layer 4 (Transport) layer: UDP and TCP protocols. (0,6 CFU) • Application layer: HTTP, SMTP, POP and IMAP protocols, P2P applications. (0.4 CFU) • Signal classification: energy and power (0.3 CFU) • Fourier series and transform (0.6 CFU) • Linear Time Invariant (LTI) systems, impulse response and transfer function (0.6 CFU) • Energy spectrum and autocorrelation function; Periodic signals and power spectral density (0.6 CFU) • Sampling Theorem (0.4 CFU) • Random processes (0.6 CFU) • Discrete time signals: basic operations, energy and power (0.3 CFU) • Discrete Time Fourier Transform (DFT) and Fast Fourier Transform (0.6 CFU) • How to measure the information: shannon theory basics. (1 CFU) • From analog to digital: ADC, quantization (0.5 CFU) • Digital modulations (1 CFU) • The digital channel , AWGN channels. BER and SNR (0.5 CFU) • Major physical media for data transmission, and related data encoding techniques (1 CFU)

The course consists of lectures and exercises. During the exercise sessions (corresponding to about 20 hours) the teacher will show the solution of problems related to the program carried out in class. For this part, each student should use her/his own personal PC in class. Exercises in the classroom will mainly cover the following topics: • Switching techniques • Window and access protocols • Spectral analysis of continuous and discrete time signals and systems • Performance characterization of a digital transmission system.

The teacher will distribute the course material, which will be made available on the course web pages. • J.F. Kurose, K.W. Ross: Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach Featuring the Internet • A. Bianco, C. Casetti, P. Giaccone, Esercitazioni di reti telematiche, Capitoli 1-2-3, CLUT (in italian) • J. Proakis: Digital Communications, 5th edition, [McGraw-Hill] • L. Lo Presti e F. Neri, L'analisi dei segnali, CLUT, 1992. • L. Lo Presti e F. Neri, Introduzione ai processi casuali, CLUT, 1992. • M. Laddomada e M. Mondin, Elaborazione numerica dei segnali, Pearson, 2007

Modalità di esame: Prova scritta (in aula); Prova orale obbligatoria;

Exam: Written test; Compulsory oral exam;

... The final exam aims at verifying the acquisition of the knowledge and skills listed in the “expected learning outcomes” section above. The exam will be composed of a written and oral tests (both compulsory). The written exam will be typically composed of 15 questions (multiple-choice questions, open questions, and short exercises) related to all the topics addressed during the theoretical and practice lectures. The written exam is 120 minute-long and it is a “closed-book” exam. It is not possible to consult any teaching material nor notes or other books. The students are allowed to use only a calculator and a formula sheet provided by the instructor. The compulsory oral exam is approximately 20-minutes long. The students will be asked to answer a few theoretical questions on the topics addressed during the lessons and elaborate on the answers provided in the written exam. Finally, the students will be asked to discuss and solve one or two numerical problems similar to the ones addressed in the practice classes. The evaluation of both written and oral exams is based on the correct development of the proposed exercises (from the description of the methodology applied to the correctness of the expected results), the use of a proper technical terminology, and the ability to give prompt and proper answers during the oral exam. For the exercises and numerical problems, both the correctness of the results as well as the application of the proper formula and methodologies used to derive the correct solution will be weighted to determine the final score. The theoretical and open questions will be judged according to the completeness of the answers as well as the ability of the student to reply in a concise manner. The final grade is composed by the evaluation of the written test and by the outcome of the oral exam (average of the two grades). Only the students with a grade in the written exam equal or larger than 15/30 are admitted to the oral part of the exam.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilità o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unità Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione più idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.