THE DIGITAL INFORMATION AGE SECOND EDITION by bestselling author Roman Kuc is designed for students considering electrical engineering as a major, and non-engineering majors interested in understanding digital communication systems. Communication between humans and smart devices takes place through sensors and actuators, with logic circuits manipulating binary data to implement useful tasks. The text then examines the basic problem of communicating audio and video data over a network connecting computers and smart devices. System operation is described from analog-to-digital conversion, signals that encode data, through the processing that extracts data from noise-corrupted signals and error correction techniques, to data packet transmission over wired and wireless networks. Basic topics from probability and digital signal processing are presented as needed and illustrated with relevant examples. Ideas are illustrated and extended by problems and projects completed in Excel, with sophistication that evolves along with the course, starting with spreadsheet formulas and graphs, through macros, to simple Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming that produces animations that simulate system operation. The accrued facility with Excel techniques is a course outcome valued by students in all majors.
1. Introduction.
2. Sensors & Actuators.
3. Combinational Logic Circuits
4. Sequential Logic Circuits.
5. Converting Between Analog & Digital Signals.
6. Modeling Random Data & Noise.
7. Detecting Data Signals in Noise.
8. Designing Signals for Multiple-Access Systems.
9. Source Coding.
10. Channel Coding.
11. Data Networks.
12. Symbology.
13. Excel Best Practices.
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Roman Kuc
Roman Kuc received his BSEE from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York. At Bell Telephone Laboratories, he investigated efficient speech coding techniques. As a postdoctoral research associate at Columbia University, he applied digital signal processing to diagnostic ultrasound signals to characterize liver disease. He is currently a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Yale where as the Director of the Intelligent Sensors Laboratory he has been pursuing research in intelligent sensors to extract information from data for applications in robotics and bioengineering. Current projects investigate biosonar systems, such as bats and dolphins, and implement biomimetic sonars and neuromorphic spike processing. Professor Kuc is a past chairman of the Instrumentation Section of the New York Academy of Sciences. He is the author of the texts Introduction to Digital Signal Processing and Electrical Engineering in Context. He is an Honorary Academician of the Higher Education Institute of the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Fellow of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. He received Yale's Sheffield Distinguished Teaching Award in 1997.
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Updated to include discussions of the latest technology that is applicable to 21st century learners.
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The text presents a narrative that describes data transmission over a network, from data generated by smart device users to the data that is enjoyed by the user in audio and video transmissions. Practical examples demonstrate how smart devices work, including touch screens and digital displays, and how data are reliably transmitted through networks by detecting errors and packet collisions. Excel allows students to explore system operation through simulations and animations using VBA programming. The emphasis on real-world systems is motivating for both non-majors and beginning majors. Numerous figures, examples, problems, and projects relate the material to actual systems. Mathematical principles are introduced gently, as needed, with interesting applications and examples at each stage. Practical applications of probability are illustrated through Excel's pseudo-random number generators to simulate data sources, to add random noise to signals, and to observe system performance.
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Updated to include discussion of the latest technology that students today will recognize and be interested in learning about.
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Kuc demonstrates how commonplace information systems – such as electrical switches, digital scales, air-bag inflation systems, infra-red autofocus cameras, smart cards, bar-code scanners, and modems -- work, and how clever engineering solutions are used to solve technical problems.
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The emphasis on real-world systems makes engineering tangible and approachable for non-majors, while providing beginning majors with a background context and motivation for their heavy load of math, physics, programming, and major-specific engineering courses.
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Shows students the facts behind information transmission, coding, and storage, and how these simple, useful systems were developed in response to the digital age.
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Includes numerous figures, examples, and problems relating to actual systems.
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Mathematical principles are introduced gently, as needed, with interesting applications and examples at each stage.
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More challenging ideas are indicated with stars and can be omitted; topics are arranged in steps of increasing detail so instructors have flexibility in designing their courses.
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Glossary in the back of the book.
Companion Website for Kuc's The Digital Information Age: An Introduction to Electrical Engineering
9781305086067