ENEE20003 - Advanced Communication Systems

General Information

Unit Synopsis

In this unit, you will expand your understanding of communications systems encompassing wireless and optical technologies. You will gain advanced knowledge of communication devices and systems and the ability to analyse various parameters such as loss, bandwidth, and signal quality. You will verify the developed theories using advanced simulation tools and gain knowledge of state-of-the-art communication systems. This unit will also provide you with opportunities to further develop your communication skills through collaborative teamwork and participation in class discussions. Furthermore, the unit also provides some awareness of the UN Sustainable Development Goal 9 in the context of engineering practice which is to build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation, and foster innovation by developing advanced communications systems.

Details

Level Postgraduate
Unit Level 9
Credit Points 12
Student Contribution Band SCA Band 2
Fraction of Full-Time Student Load 0.25
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites There are no pre-requisites for the unit.

Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).

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Residential School Compulsory Residential School
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Unit Availabilities from Term 2 - 2024

Term 2 - 2024 Profile
Melbourne
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton
Term 2 - 2025 Profile
Melbourne
Mixed Mode
Rockhampton

Attendance Requirements

All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).

Assessment Overview

Recommended Student Time Commitment

Each 12-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 25 hours of study per week, making a total of 300 hours for the unit.

Assessment Tasks

Assessment Task Weighting
1. Online Quiz(zes) 25%
2. Written Assessment 35%
3. Project (applied) 40%

This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).

Consult the University's Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades

Past Exams

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Previous Feedback

Term 2 - 2022 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 50.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 100% response rate.

Feedback, Recommendations and Responses

Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.

Source: Unit Coordinator's observation
Feedback
Hand-on experiences with the application of the theory learned in this unit will significantly enhance student learning and satisfaction with the unit.
Recommendation
Create hand-on simulations or practical exercises to illustrate the learning concepts.
Action Taken
This practice was continued. Students gained experiences in design of a complex communication system using the industry leading design suite of software.
Source: Unit Coordinator's observation
Feedback
Guidance and providing specific explanations of the assessment tasks will improve student performance.
Recommendation
Provide customised workshops to assist students with the assessments to improve their understanding of the assessment expectations.
Action Taken
Workshops were provided to students prior to relevant assessment tasks to clarify the requitements and provide tips on methods to tackle the assessment problems.
Source: Unit Survey's feedback
Feedback
The assessments were challenging and perhaps more difficult than what they should be.
Recommendation
Revise the assessment tasks to ensure they align well with the scaffolded learning activities. In addition, design and provide learning activities to help students develop knowledge and skills to solve more challenging problems.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Survey's feedback
Feedback
Students are not familiar with the industry software used for the design assessment. Although, the software has been taught in the intensive learning workshop, it is helpful to have more practices of the software during the term.
Recommendation
Incorporate software-based problems in the weekly tutorial exercises to allow early and more frequent practices of using the software and therefore enhance competency in using the software.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Coordinator's reflection
Feedback
The range of topics covered in the unit are perhaps excessive for one term.
Recommendation
Revise the unit learning contents to streamline the materials and improve the content flow.
Action Taken
In Progress
Source: Unit Survey's feedback
Feedback
It is helpful to provide guidance and specific explanations of the assessment tasks to help students perform well in the assessments.
Recommendation
Provide dedicated workshops to assist students with the assessments to improve their understanding of the assessment expectations and provide suggestive strategies to tackle the assessment problems.
Action Taken
In Progress
Unit learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  1. Analyse communication systems
  2. Calculate power, bandwidth, and signal quality for the communication systems
  3. Examine the characteristics of common communication components and systems through simulations
  4. Design sophisticated communication systems and predict their performance
  5. Produce professional engineering reports adhering to electrical engineering standards using appropriate terminologies and symbols
  6. Successfully complete engineering projects autonomously and in a team with a responsible, ethical, and professional attitude.

The Learning Outcomes for this unit are linked with the Engineers Australia Stage 1 Competency Standards for Professional Engineers in the areas of 1. Knowledge and Skill Base, 2. Engineering Application Ability and 3. Professional and Personal Attributes at the following levels:
Introductory
3.1 Ethical conduct and professional accountability. (LO: 5N 6N )
3.2 Effective oral and written communication in professional and lay domains. (LO: 5N 6N )
3.5 Orderly management of self, and professional conduct. (LO: 5N 6N )
3.6 Effective team membership and team leadership. (LO: 3N 4N 5N 6N )
Intermediate
1.2 Conceptual understanding of the mathematics, numerical analysis, statistics, and computer and information sciences that underpin the engineering discipline. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4I )
1.4 Discernment of knowledge development and research directions within the engineering discipline. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4I )
2.1 Application of established engineering methods to complex engineering problem solving. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4I )
2.3 Application of systematic engineering synthesis and design processes. (LO: 4I )
2.4 Application of systematic approaches to the conduct and management of engineering projects. (LO: 2I 3I 4I 6I )
3.4 Professional use and management of information. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4I )
Advanced
1.1 Comprehensive, theory-based understanding of the underpinning natural and physical sciences and the engineering fundamentals applicable to the engineering discipline. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4A )
1.3 In-depth understanding of specialist bodies of knowledge within the engineering discipline. (LO: 1I 2A 3I 4A )
2.2 Fluent application of engineering techniques, tools, and resources. (LO: 1I 2I 3I 4A 5I 6I )
 
 
 
 
Note: LO refers to the Learning Outcome number(s) that link to the competency and the levels: N – Introductory, I – Intermediate, and A - Advanced.
 
Refer to the Engineering Postgraduate Units Moodle site for further information on Engineers Australia's Stage 1 Competency Standard for Professional Engineers and course-level mapping information
 

Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
Assessment Tasks Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Online Quiz(zes) • •
2 - Written Assessment • • • •
3 - Project (applied) • • • •
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Graduate Attributes Learning Outcomes
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 - Knowledge • • • •
2 - Communication • •
3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills • • • •
4 - Research • •
5 - Self-management • •
6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility • •
7 - Leadership •
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
• Professional Level
• Advanced Level
Assessment Tasks Graduate Attributes
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8