IMPORTANT- Immediately read this material and print and fill in the Student Information Form and return it ON PAPER to the instructor via mail or your site coördinator, even if you have sent in a similar form for another course previously.

Please read these pages. The information here will probably save you time and unnecessary questions during the semester.

Internet Home Page: You are reading this information either from paper or from the course home page, which will make all handouts and course notes available to you directly to view and print at your own location. The world wide web (www) URL (universal resource locator) address is:

and just to explain the abbreviations: seas= school of engineering and applied science, edu is the so-called Internet domain name for educational institutions, disted= distance education, tel= telecommunications program, and html=hyper text markup language, a programming language used to encode documents and graphics for display via Internet. If you are able to receive all materials via Internet and print them out yourself, please notify the EE Department administrative assistant so that paper copies need not be sent to you in addition.(Save a tree!)

Textbook: Digital Telephony by J. Bellamy, 2nd Edition., published by Wiley.

Content: This course is devoted primarily to digital telephone systems --the digital coding, multiplexing and transmission of speech and data. (There is an entire separate course on digital switching in the spring semester.) Because of varying technical background of the students, most topics will be explained on both an introductory and a more advanced level.

Course Topics: These topics are not necessarily in chronological order and may not all be covered, depending upon available time.

Brief history of the telephone industry, with emphasis on technology of analog transmission. Microphone and earphone. Distortion and attenuation in analog transmission. Analog amplification. Conferencing. Noise, echo, and their treatment. Frequency division multiplexing.

Speech signals, their generation by the mouth and reception by the ear, and their waveform and spectrum characteristics.

Data sources and destinations. Digital data transmission via modems and other modulation methods, data codes and formats.

Digitization of speech. Bandwidth of speech and sampling rate. Direct binary encoding. Logarithmic companding: Mu (µ)-law and A-Law. Differential PCM and ADPCM. Delta modulation and CVSD. Low bit-rate coding using speech dynamics: band segmentation and Linear Predictive Coding (LPC). Regular pulse excited LPC, Multi-pulse LPC, Code Excited LPC (CELP), and Vector-Sum Excited LPC (VSELP).

Audio signal processing in digital form: tone generators and receivers, analog modems, transcoding, echo suppressers and echo cancelers.

Digital multiplexing. Multiplexing formats of DS-1 and PCM-30 (E-1) primary rates. Synchronization and framing. Supervision by A,B bits and common channel signals. Brief overview of common channel signals in CSS6, CSS7, ISDN. Line coding. AMI, B8ZS, ZBTSI and clear channel objectives. DS-3 and other higher rate multiplexing, including SONET/SDH, FDDI, et al. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN).

Wire, radio (microwave), and fiber transmission systems and their properties.

Transmission of data over digital telecommunications facilities: Modems. Data interfaces RS-232, V.35, rate adaptation schemes V.110, V.120, T-link (Data path), and HDLC packets. Packet switching networks. Computer interfaces using CPI, DMI, and PRA.

Encryption and data security. Brief historical review. Running key encryption. Key generators and synchronization. NBS data encryption standard. Public key systems. NSA secure telephone sets.

Exploratory topics (time permitting): Digital transmission of graphics: Coding and transmission of pictures. Two level (black and white) images and special data compression methods. ITU (CCITT) Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 Facsimile. Images, video and vision properties. Digital video transmission at DS-3 bit rates. Video encoding methods for transmission at 1.5 Mb/s and at 56 or 64 kb/s. Asynchronous Time Multiplexing (ATM) labeled switching/transmission schemes. Frame switching. Fast Circuit switching. Digital cellular radio.

Grading: There will be occasional homework and a one hour midterm quiz. There is no final examination. A term paper is required. A one page proposal for the term paper subject must be submitted by the week of October 20 (or earlier if possible). This will be returned with comments and any necessary changes will be resolved by discussion between the student and the instructor. Informal discussion is encouraged prior to those dates. The complete term paper is due from local Dallas area students only not later than 5PM, Friday, December 5, 1997 at the SMU EE Department on campus. Papers from other locations are due later in proportion to delay in viewing the videotapes or broadcasts. Early submission of term papers is encouraged, if possible. The term paper grade is the course grade, with the following qualification. A midterm quiz score at or above the group average (in class, TAGER, or outside Dallas area) will raise the letter grade by the smallest grading increase above the term paper grade. For example, a student receiving a letter grade of B+ on the term paper and a midterm quiz score below group average will receive a B+ as the course grade. A student with a B+ on the term paper but a midterm quiz score equal to or above group average will receive A-.

Employer publication clearance: If you intend to write a term paper which concerns topics involved in your employment, take steps now to obtain written permission or whatever advance approval your employer requires so that you will have no problems in presenting your paper on time.

Disclaimer: Information presented in this program was carefully researched and is believed to be accurate and timely as of the date of presentation. Every effort has been made to clearly distinguish statements based on opinion from statements believed to be factual. Neither the instructor, Beta Laboratory, Southern Methodist University, NTU, nor the TAGER system are responsible for any incidental or consequential effects of the viewer's reliance upon information presented in this program.

First Assignment: Print the student information form, enter the information requested, and return to the instructor or SMU EE Dept. If you attend class videotaping sessions at the SMU Richardson facility, return it directly to the instructor. no later than the second session on September 3. If you attend the broadcast/playback at SMU, return it to the EE Deptartment office on the 3rd floor of the engineering building. If you are at a TAGER location, return it via TAGER courier, or mail. If elsewhere, return it via your site educational coördinator or use ordinary mail. THIS IS IMPORTANT- DO NOT DELAY RETURNING THE FORM!

Section Numbers: Find your section number for use in the Student Information Form from this list. Your section is determined by the location of your educational coördinator who receives TAGER or SMU mailings, and not always by your actual work location or employer. If you are enrolled via NTU and have not been assigned a specific section 498 number, use section number 499 regardless of your work location.

If you cannot identify your section number from this list, particularly section 498, call the SMU EE Department at (214) 768 3108 for further information.