Communication Systems and Networks

Course guarantor:

Dušan Maga

Lecturer:

Dušan Maga

Tutor:

Dušan Maga

Supervisor:

Institute of Economic Studies

Synopsis:

Telecommunications: What does it all mean? We look into history and the future. We'll try it wired and wireless, even at the speed of light (or almost...), on land, underwater, and in space. For example:

How is electric current created? Painter Morse. Alexander, ring the bell! Telecommunications from the plane.

Do you know a Twisted Pair? How a landline works.

How the telephone network becomes the Internet.

Light and dark. Transmission of information by light.

Why are networks „mobile“? 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. The more G, the better. How here and how elsewhere?

Satellite systems (J. Kepler + A. C. Clarke = E. Musk). What do Saturn and Earth have in common? Does navigation know about me? We will walk around Čakovice.

How television (including Internet) works. A football match and a drastic Clash of the Titans.

WiFi not working? What now

Why the Internet is not for people but for things.

The biggest mistakes in the history of telco business.

The subject scrupulously avoids formulas and mathematical relationships (however, it does not always succeed...) - the keywords are principles and clarity.

Requirements:

Entry requirements: interest in telecommunications technology.

Exam Requirements:

The course is completed with an exam.

In accordance with ECTS requirements, a minimum of 50 points must be achieved to successfully pass the exam.

Points for the exam are obtained based on:

A) active completion of tasks during the semester plus a 5-point bonus for the best result in the assigned task (maximum 40 points in total).

B) completion of the final test (maximum 60 points).

** A) Active completion of tasks during the semester **

Active participation in ongoing tasks (usually simple closed questions/statements of the true/false type) during lectures:

- 100% participation: 40 points

- participation between 100% and 50%: the number of points is reduced proportionally (linearly)

- 50% participation: 10 points

- participation less than 50%: 0 points

** B) Final test **

The final test is held either in person or (depending on participation in semester tasks) in the MOODLE environment. It consists of 25 questions randomly selected by the system from its database. Answers to the questions may be equally weighted so that the full number of points is awarded only if all correct options are selected and none of the incorrect ones. Selecting an incorrect option results in points being deducted; however, the score for a question cannot fall below 0. Completion of the final test is mandatory for all students.

The form of the test is in person (if active completion of tasks during the semester is 50%), or at the students choice, online or in person (if active completion of tasks during the semester is more than 50%).

** Final point assessment **

The final point score is the sum of points from tasks completed during the semester, bonus points for the best result in the assigned task (max. 40), and points obtained from the final test (max. 60). Student grading is as follows:

A: 90100 points

B: 8089,99 points

C: 7079,99 points

D: 6069,99 points

E: 5059,99 points

F: less than 50 points

Syllabus of lectures:

1) Basic principles of communication networks; transmission of voice and data

2) Historical development of telecommunication networks

3) Metallic transmission media; xDSL: topology, current state, and future development

4) PSTN; various types of backbone and access networks

5) Optical networks: topology and applications

6) Cellular mobile networks: main technologies in use, principles, and their parameters

7) Satellite communication

8) IPTV technological platform

9) Wi-Fi networks and their applications

10) Modulation; CDMA

11) Next Generation Network (NGN)

12) Technologies for IoT: Zigbee, Sigfox, and others

13) Scope of the telecom business: statistics, capacity and performance planning

14) Telecom business, network construction

Syllabus of tutorials:

Not applicable. Exercises from the subject are not planned.

Study Objective:

The subject focuses on familiarizing with the basic principles of communication systems and networks for „non-technical“ educated listeners. Basic terms and terminologies are introduced from the field of telecommunications technologies, gaining an overview of communication technologies' history, present, and possible future.

Study materials:

HEWTON, H., SCHOEN, S. Newton's Telecom Dictionary. ISBN-13: 978-0979387395

MAGA, D. Communication Systems and Networks. Praha: ČVUT, 2018. [online]. [ref. 2018-

06-29]. Available from: https://moodle-ostatni.cvut.cz

Internet-based sources (recommended)

Note:

Further information:

https://moodle-vyuka.cvut.cz/mod/book/view.php?id=69530(dostupné po přihlášení)

Time-table for winter semester 2025/2026:

Time-table is not available yet

Time-table for summer semester 2025/2026:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue	roomDEJ:210 Maga D. 16:00–17:30 (lecture parallel1) Dejvice
Wed
Thu
Fri

The course is a part of the following study plans: