Communications Engineering – Major of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology

IMPORTANT NOTICE:  Students interested in the Communications Engineering major have to apply for the Master's programme in "Electrical Engineering and Information Technology". Once accepted and enrolled, they can choose any one of the five majors. The Communications Engineering (COMM) major offers a broad range of topics covering the field of communication and information technology at different levels of abstraction. The system concept stands at the most abstract level: the parts and systems that are required for a specific communication task. For this, the necessary mathematical foundation will be laid. The architecture of the systems used, like transmitters, receivers or signal processors, will be covered in depth. The components of these will be discussed: digital signal processing including the VLSI implementation, analogue components like mixers, amplifiers and filters as well as antennas are all part of the Master's programme. Naturally, since the entire field of Communications Engineering is too vast to cover in two semesters worth of lectures, only the general ideas and principles will be taught in the mandatory “CORE” courses, while the students can choose from a broad catalogue of “ELECTIVE” subjects, effectively deciding the field they want to focus on. Core subjects are:  Estimation and Detection Theory  Mobile Radio Networks 1  Principles and Design of Communication Systems and Networks  RF Systems The major COMM covers the whole range of communication: wireless communication, electromagnetic waves, optical communication and special forms such as radar or satellite navigation as well. Since the programme covers ideas and concepts behind communication and information engineering rather than only one type of communication technology, students will be able to apply these to any current or future communication system. They will be able to develop complex systems via a hardware/software co-design methodology. Furthermore, they will have all of the necessary skills to perform the modelling, analysis, synthesis, and optimisation of such systems. This ensures optimal job security in the future. On top of that, the institutes of the RWTH offer numerous research assistant positions. Many students enrolled in the Master's programme take the opportunity to gain hands-on experience and first-hand insight into current research projects conducted at the RWTH. In brief – what to expect of COMM – everything about RF communication, ranging from audio up to mm-wave frequencies and beyond: Mathematical fundamentals: modulation, detection (reconstruction), wave propagation Communication mediums: electromagnetic, optical System level design: selection of required blocks and functions Receiver and transmitter design Digital circuit design: algorithm, DSP and VLSI design Analogue circuit design: power management, amplifiers, mixers, filters Signal processing basics: speech, video, data streams Others: radar, satellite navigation Many student assistant job opportunities