Welcome to Communication Systems Projects with LabVIEW, a multimedia-enhanced series of projects that explore digital communication systems through LabVIEW simulations, visualizations, and implementations of practical systems.

Communication systems play an exciting role in our increasingly interconnected society. Digital communication systems form the heart of computer data networks, satellite communications, mobile telephones, and wireless hand-held devices. All electrical and computer engineering programs emphasize communication systems as part of the core curriculum.

Communication systems analysis and design requires a firm grasp of mathematical models, and demands mathematical skill with signals, systems, probability, and random variables. Insight and intuition, also important for the successful study of communication systems, do not always follow immediately from the mathematical presentations of traditional textbooks, however. Hands-on construction of real communication systems and interactive simulations that supplement the mathematics help to more quickly achieve insightful understanding of the myriad details involved in designing and optimizing a communications link for a given application.

Communication Systems Projects with LabVIEW features ten laboratory projects based on the LabVIEW graphical dataflow programming environment. LabVIEW offers an unparalleled way to directly translate communication system diagrams and mathematical descriptions into a LabVIEW program called a block diagram. The LabVIEW front panel GUI (graphical user interface) that emerges automatically as part of the programming activity enables real-time interaction with the communication system and visualization of the signals as waveforms, binary patterns, and text. This real-time interaction reveals connections, patterns, and often unexpected relationships -- the basis of strong intuition and insight. Many of the projects emphasize listening to the signals as sound, further enhancing one's insight. Some of the laboratory projects simulate and visualize fundamental concepts such as baseband modulation, pulse shaping, intersymbol interference (ISI) and eye diagrams, while other projects result in fully-operational systems such as a Caller ID decoder and a text messaging system between a speaker and a microphone.

Each project begins with an explanation of the background theory necessary to complete the project. These introductions feature narrated videos called screencasts that simulate a classroom lecture with a whiteboard visual aid. Continue by constructing a set of subVIs (LabVIEW reusable function blocks) according to precise specifications. Each subVI includes a screencast video that demonstrates the LabVIEW tool in operation to introduce and explain relevant LabVIEW programming techniques for the given subVI. Once the subVIs have been built and tested individually, assemble them into a working "top-level" VI (literally a Virtual Instrument, the name of a LabVIEW program). The project directions provide guidance through the complete development process, each step of the way.

Communication Systems Projects with LabVIEW has been designed to augment existing communication systems laboratory projects, or to serve as the complete laboratory component of an introductory engineering communication systems course. Seven guiding principles motivate the design and organization of Communication Systems Projects with LabVIEW:

Each project requires four activities on the part of the student: (1) Study the introductory material that explains theory and concepts, (2) implement several subVIs as low-level building blocks, (3) assemble the subVIs into an application VI, and (4) interact with the finished VI to explore the theory and concepts. Constructing the subVIs helps students to develop skills with a wide variety of LabVIEW programming techniques, and also helps them to establish a firm grasp on the various LabVIEW data types. The subVIs are carefully specified around standard datatypes, i.e., Boolean array for bitstreams, waveform data type for "analog" signals; successful completion of the subVIs reduces the debugging effort required for the application VIs. Many of the subVIs are reused across multiple projects. The modularity of the projects -- 10 projects total with a library of over 40 subVIs -- allows the projects to be easily customized as necessary.

An instructor's manual and complete set of application VIs and subVIs is available; please contact the author for details.