Lecture and Homework Assignment Pages:
    (Click here for lecture information, test information, and homework assigments)

Classroom:
MWF 9, 1219 Coover Hall

Instructor:
Iowa State University
Steve F. Russell, Associate Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
2427 Coover ECPE, Iowa State University
Ames, Iowa 50011
Phone: 515-294-1273 (voice mail capability)
email: sfr@iastate.edu
http://www.public.iastate.edu/~sfr/homepage.html

Office Hours: Office hours are listed on my web page for my weekly schedule at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~sfr/schedule.htm

Teaching Assistant:
none

Textbook:
 "Digital Communicatons: Fundamentals and Applications," by Bernard Sklar, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Second Edition, c2001 (ISBN 0-13-084788-7)

Course Information:

Cpre 537

• Two one-hour exams plus a project
• Grading Criteria is the following:
• Each of the two semester exams:   25% (total is 50%)
• Project 50%

• Exams are open book and open notes
• Palm computers and calculators are permitted.
• The dates of the exams will be announced several weeks in advance so you can plan your schedule accordingly. They will be posted on this web site.
• Exams will be taken individually.
• No make-up exams will be given except in extreme circumstances.
• Refer to the lecture pages for more specific information for each exam.
• A study guide for each exam will be made available and posted on the web.

• Your work will include a major project this semester which will account for 50% of your semester grade. The grading of your project will be based on the following: originality and difficulty (15%), presentation (10%), written final report (25%)
• These projects are meant to be fun and interesting to you and to increase your knowledge of some aspect of current communications technology. You will be able to choose your project from a wide range of topics.
• The projects will consist of the following:
• A written project proposal due by the last class period of the second week of the semester. This project proposal should be 2-3 pages long and contain a detailed description and plan of what your project will be. It should contain your objectives and a detailed plan for what you will do. We will review and discuss your proposal and, if needed, modify it or choose a different topic. Your proposal will then be approved and you can start working on the project.
• Preliminary project work will be a search of library and web sources on your topic.
• A 25 minute class presentation on your project (20 minutes for presentation and 5 minutes for questions). These presentations will be scheduled for near the end of the semester. You should prepare about 8 slides or overhead viewcells for your presentation. All visual aids should be labeled with "Iowa State University", Course Number, [your name], date, and slide number. Keep the slides simple and easy to read.
• A written final report which will be due near the end of the semester. This report will contain details of your research and/or simulations. It should contain 15-25 pages of text with up to 10 pages of figures and tables. The report must be written in your own words. Don't copy the words of authors in books or on the web.
• Deliverables: Your written final report in hard copy form. Your written final report and presentation in electronic form (either a CD or a floppy). Figures in Powerpoint, GIF, or JPG and text in PDF, MS Word, or Wordperfect).
• Example Table of Contents for your report:
• TITLE PAGE (Name, Date, Project Title, Course & Semester, Instructor)
• ABSTRACT
• TABLE OF CONTENTS
• LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (list of figures and titles)
• INTRODUCTION
• THEORY and (if needed) SIMULATIONS (this is the main part of the report and may contain several sections)
• CONCLUSION
• BIBLIOGRAPHY (this should include every paper, book, and web site URL you used.  A good bibliography is essential for a good grade on your project)
• FIGURES (put figures at the end of the text)
• APPENDIX (put supplementary material here including copies of web pages if you think they are important enough to include in you report)