Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies & Science

Department of Computer Science & Technology
Assignment Details:
Assignment 1: Study and analysis of quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM)

Instructions to Student:
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Assignment 1: Study and analysis of Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)

Task

Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM) varies both the amplitude and phase of the modulated signal that carries digital information. The main objective of this task is to write a report investigating the QAM technique.

The report should consider the following aspects:

Aspect 1: The reference material to show:
a) How the QAM technique is defined. Thus, please use some essential references when deriving approximations, using mathematical formulas, etc.
b) Where the QAM technique has been previously used. Thus, please list about 4-6 indicative references to show usage of QAM in various applications or digital communication standards.

Aspect 2: Critically analyze and show deep understanding of the most important features of QAM such as:
a) Mathematical formulations;
b) Constellation (i.e., vector) diagrams;

As amplitude shift keying (ASK) and phase shift keying (PSK) constitute special cases of QAM, the comparisons and critical discussions of the features of QAM compared to those of ASK and PSK are required. More specifically: a) mathematical formulas of ASK and PSK signals arising from QAM signals, b) constellation diagrams of ASK, PSK compared to QAM. Indicatively, treat the following situations: a) How a QPSK and an 8-ASK signal is generated by a QAM signal? b) Is QPSK a 4-QAM? c) What do the constellation diagrams of 8-ASK and QPSK look like compared to a QAM constellation diagram?

Aspect 3: Matlab plots to demonstrate your familiarity with the parameterization of the QAM technique, namely:
a) QAM signals when varying amplitude and phase.

As amplitude shift keying (ASK) and phase shift keying (PSK) constitute special cases of QAM, comparative to QAM signal plots of ASK and PSK signals are required. Indicatively, treat the following situations: a) How do a QPSK and an 8-ASK signal look like when compared to a QAM signal?

Deliverable

The deliverable is a report (electronic/soft copy). The total number of words is a maximum of 2000 (+-10%). Mathematical equations, figures and tables should be created by you and not replicated from other sources. All symbols and abbreviations should be defined before they are used. The maximum total number of figures and tables is six. The report should be structured in the format of a research paper as follows:

1. ABSTRACT (about 50-100 words). It describes the purpose of this report. It briefly presents the main outcomes and contributions.

2. Section I. INTRODUCTION (about 300-400 words). i) Introduces the readers into the scientific domain (i.e., digital modulation and particularly QAM). ii) Presents the related literature and evaluation of where this technique has been previously used (see above aspect 1.b). iii) Gives a brief synopsis of how the report is structured.

3. Section II. THEORETICAL MODEL (about 600-800 words). It presents the theory and the most important features of QAM, i.e., mathematical formulations and constellation diagrams (see above aspect 2). Each subsection of aspect 2 should form a separate paragraph with a critical comparison of QAM with ASK and PSK. The use of references is essential when students present mathematical formulas, approximations and, in general, already existing material, but these may not necessarily be the same references used in Introduction (see above aspect 1.a).

4. Section III. RESULTS (about 600-800 words). It presents plots generated by Matlab showing parameterization of the QAM technique (see above aspect 3). Each figure should be accompanied by a thorough critical discussion in the main text. Comparisons of QAM signals with PSK and ASK signals are required (see above aspect 3).

5. Section IV. CONCLUSION (about 50-100 words). It summarizes the main outcomes and contributions of this report.

A soft copy submitted to Turnitin is required, and it should contain the following items:
• Top sheet for Referral Assignment
• Marking Criteria
• Report

Submission deadline is on 20/12/2013.

Marking Criteria: Marking Criteria are given separately (see the next page).
Assignment 1: Study and analysis of Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (QAM)

Marking Criteria:

Elements F-E
1-4 D
5-7 C
8-10 B
11-13 A
14-16
Summative parts (Abstract and Conclusion) (10%) Poor description with nothing about outcomes and conclusions Elementary description with very few details about outcomes and conclusions Satisfactory description with some details about outcomes and conclusions Good description with adequate information about outcomes and conclusions Excellent description with absolutely proper description about outcomes and conclusions
Introduction (10%) Poor description without referencing and no synopsis of the report Elementary description with very few references and vague synopsis of the report Satisfactory description with some related references and a brief synopsis of the report Good description with relevant references and clear synopsis of the report Excellent description with absolutely relevant references and very clear synopsis of the report
Presentation, clarity and communication of ideas (20%) Poor presentation without meaning Elementary presentation with mistakes Satisfactory presentation with some meaning Good presentation with clear meaning Excellent presentation with very clear meaning
Theoretical part (30%) Poor or no technical content and analysis without referencing Limited technical content and analysis with elementary referencing Satisfactory technical content and analysis with some referencing Good technical content and analysis with mostly related referencing
Excellent technical content and analysis with absolutely related referencing
Results (30%) Poor or no results Limited results with elementary discussion and comparisons Satisfactory results with some discussion and comparisons Good results with a critical discussion and comparison Excellent results with a thorough critical discussion and comparisons