Telecommunication Breakdown: Concepts of Communication Transmitted Via Software-Defined Radio
For single-semester courses in Communication Systems in Electrical Engineering and Computer departments. This text reflects the recent shift in telecommunications technology from hardware to software by focusing on the design of a digital software-defined radio. Telecommunications Breakdown helps students build a complete digital radio that includes each part of a typical digital communication system. By following each chapter, students create a Matlab realization of the various pieces of the system, exploring key ideas along the way. In the final chapter, the reader "puts it all together" to build a fully functional receiver (not operational in real time).
Why Read This Book
You should read this book if you want a hands-on, MATLAB-driven path from basic communications building blocks to a working software-defined radio receiver implementation (non-real-time). It walks you through the signal-processing pieces used in modern digital radios—modulation, matched filtering, synchronization and BER analysis—so you can prototype and experiment quickly in software.
Who Will Benefit
Undergraduate or early-graduate students and practicing engineers who want a practical, MATLAB-based introduction to digital communication systems and software-defined radio prototyping.
Level: Intermediate — Prerequisites: Basic signals and systems, probability (basic probability and random processes), sampling theory, and familiarity with MATLAB scripting.
Key Takeaways
- Implement MATLAB prototypes of modulators and demodulators (PSK, QAM, FSK) and evaluate their performance.
- Design and apply pulse-shaping and matched filters to optimize receiver performance and spectral efficiency.
- Simulate channel effects (AWGN and simple impairments) and measure BER to understand tradeoffs.
- Implement basic synchronization algorithms for timing and carrier recovery in software receivers.
- Assemble individual DSP blocks into a complete non-real-time software-defined radio receiver.
- Analyze how quantization, sampling, and ADC front-end considerations affect digital receiver behavior.
Topics Covered
- Introduction to Software-Defined Radio and MATLAB-based Prototyping
- Signals, Sampling, and Spectral Analysis
- Baseband Signaling and Pulse Shaping
- Digital Modulation Techniques (ASK/FSK/PSK/QAM)
- Matched Filter Receivers and Detection Theory
- Noise, AWGN Channels and Bit-Error-Rate Analysis
- Timing and Carrier Synchronization Techniques
- Channel Impairments and Simple Equalization
- Quantization, ADC Issues and Practical Front-Ends
- Putting the Pieces Together: Building a Complete MATLAB Receiver
- Laboratory Exercises and MATLAB Code Examples
- Appendices: MATLAB Tips and Signal Processing Toolbox Usage
Languages, Platforms & Tools
How It Compares
More hands-on and MATLAB-focused than Proakis' Digital Communications (which is more mathematical); less hardware-oriented than later SDR texts like Software Defined Radio for Engineers, but good for classroom SDR prototyping.
