Telecommunication Systems

Synthetic program:

objective of the course is to provide the students the theoretical fundamentals of telecommunication with particular emphasis to Earth - Space links to which specific reference will be made in the final part of the course. The topics considered are the characteristics of signals constituting the information to be transmitted, the different techniques used to transmit and receive the information, the basis of electronic circuits and the elements of antennas. Also the issue of radiowave propagation in the real environment at any frequency will be addressed.

Telecommunications basics: Signals classification and characteristics. Analog modulations: amplitude, frequency and phase modulation. Transmitter and receiver block diagrams.

Components and circuits: Elementary analog circuits (amplifiers, oscillators, mixers, filters, amplitude and frequency detectors, etc.) and their applications. Elementary digital circuits and their applications. Elementary electronic and microwave components.

Antennas: Basic parameters of antennas (gain, directivity function, beamwidth, equivalent area, etc.), main antenna types and characteristics. Fields of application.

Electromagnetic wave propagation: Guided propagation (transmission lines, waveguides and fiber optics); radiated propagation (effects of ground, troposphere and ionosphere); dependence of electromagnetic wave propagation on frequency.

Earth-space links: Frequency allocation; power and bandwidth requirements; noise and interference. Digital modulation schemes. Links with LEO satellites (brief notes to space probes): effects of the medium. Link budget.