Calendar

The chapters listed below are from the 6.02 course notes, which can be found in the Readings section.

LEC # TOPICS CHAPTERS KEY DATES
Unit 1: Bits
1 Introduction and objectives for communication systems, information and entropy, Huffman coding 1, 2, 3.1–3.2  
2 Source coding: Huffman codes and LZW 3  
3 Errors and binary symmetric channels, error correction introduction 4 (skim through 4.3.1), 5.1–5.3  
4 Error correction (channel coding), Hamming distance, parity bits 5  
5 Rectangular parity codes, Hamming codes, linear block codes, interleaving 6 (not including 6.6) Problem set 1 due (Huffman and LZW)
6 Convolutional codes 7  
7 Viterbi decoding of convolutional codes 8 Problem set 2 due (linear block codes)
Unit 2: Signals
8 Gaussian noise, SNR and BER, dB scale 9  
9 Transmitting on a physical channel: the bits-signal boundary, digital signaling, modulation and demodulation 10.1 Problem set 3 due (Viterbi decoder and comparing codes)
10 Linear, time-invariant (LTI) channel models in continuous time (CT) and discrete time (DT), step response, unit sample (impulse) response, convolution, causality 10, 11.3  
  Quiz 1 (covering lectures 1–7 and problem sets 1–3)    
11 Intersymbol interference (ISI), PyAudio channel demo (full oneping library), understanding LTI systems through their frequency response 11  
12 Filters and composition, deconvolution as (noise-sensitive) inverse filtering 11 Problem set 4 due (digital signaling, clock recovery, noise analysis)
13 Fourier transformation to display the spectrum of a periodic signal (discrete-time Fourier series) 12  
14 Discrete-time Fourier series, spectrum of non-periodic signals (discrete-time Fourier transforms), spectral character of noise 13 Problem set 5 due (unit-step and unit-sample response, eye diagrams)
15 Modulation on a sinusoidal carrier, demodulation (time-domain and frequency-domain interpretations), sharing spectrum using multiple carriers 14  
16 Signals in time and frequency, LTI channels, filtering, and modulation/demodulation: how these come together in modern design 14  
Unit 3: Packets
17 Multi-hop networks, packet switching, queues, sources of delay 16 Problem set 6 due (modulation and demodulation)
  Quiz 2 (covering lectures 8–16 and problem sets 4–6)    
18 Sharing a channel: MAC protocols (TDMA, Aloha) 15  
19 Network layer: routing protocols (without failures) 17 Problem set 7 due (MAC protocols)
20 Network layer: routing protocols (handling failures), comparing distance-vector and link-state protocols 18  
21 Transport protocols: reliable data delivery 19 Problem set 8 due (distance-vector and link-state routing protocols)
22 Transport protocols: improving throughput with sliding windows 19, 16.4  
23 From the telegraph to the Internet   Problem set 9 due (transport protocols)
24 Course wrap-up    
  Quiz 3 (covering lectures 17–24 and problem sets 7–9)