ELEC 373, W24 Practice Problem Set 2

Problem 1
A signal has passed through three cascaded amplifiers, each with a 4 dB gain. What is the total gain? How
much is the signal amplified?

ANSWER:

The total gain in dB is the sum of the component dB values:

Total gain = 4dB + 4dB + 4dB = 12dB.
12
The signal is amplified 10 10 = 15.85 times. 

Problem 2
Suppose we wish to transmit at a rate of 64 kbps over a 3 kHz telephone channel. What is the minimum
SNRdB required to accomplish this?

ANSWER:

We know that R = 64 kbps and W = 3 kHz. What we need to find is SN Rmin . The channel capac-
ity is:
C = W log2 (1 + SN R), C ≥ Cmin = R = 64 kbps
Cmin = W log2 (1 + SN Rmin ) ⇒ log2 (1 + SN Rmin ) = 64/3 ⇒ 1 + SN Rmin = 264/3
⇒ SN Rmin = 2.64 × 106
in dB:SN Rmin = 10 log10 (2.64 × 106 ) = 64.2 dB ∴ a very clean channel


Problem 3
Suppose we are trying to send a series of bits through a channel with a bit error rate  (i.e., each bit has
probability  of being received incorrectly). One way to improve the reliability is to use repetition code (3,1).
For example, if we want to send the bits ‘011’, we actually send ‘000111111’. The receiver looks at the bits
in groups of three, and decodes each group to the bit that occurs most often in the group. What is the error
rate by using repetition code (3,1) (i.e., the probability that a group of three repeated bits will be decoded
incorrectly given )? How much does this repetition code improve reliability?

ANSWER:

Repeating each bit three times allows us to correct one error in each group of three bits, but not more
errors. Since bit error rate of each bit is , the error rate by using repetition code (3,1) is given by
3 3

2
3
P r(2 errors out of three) + P r(3 errors out of three) = 2  (1 − ) + 3  = 32 (1 − ) + 3

We can use the ratio of two error rates to measure the reliability improvement:
error rate by using repetition code (3,1) 32 (1−)+3
error rate of single bit =  ≈ 3

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 ELEC 373, W24 Practice Problem Set 2

Problem 4
Most digital transmission systems are “self-clocking” in that they derive the bit synchronization from the
signal itself. To do this, the systems use the transitions between positive and negative voltage levels. These
transitions help define the boundaries of the bit intervals.

• The nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) signaling method transmits a 0 with a +1 voltage of duration T , and
a 1 with a -1 voltage of duration T . Plot the signal for the sequence 4 consecutive 1s followed by 4
consecutive 0s. Explain why this code has a synchronization problem.

• In differential coding the sequence of 0s and 1s induces changes in the polarity of the signal; a binary 0
results in no change in polarity, and a binary 1 results in a changes in polarity. Repeat part (a). Does
this scheme have a synchronization problem?

• The Manchester signaling method transmits a 0 as a +1 voltage for T /2 seconds followed by a -1 for
T /2 seconds; a 1 is transmitted as a -1 voltage for T /2 seconds followed by a +1 for T /2 seconds.
Repeat part (a) and explain how the synchronization problem has been addressed. What is the cost
in bandwidth in going from NRZ to Manchester coding?

ANSWER:

(a) The figure below shows a sequence of 4 1s followed by 4 0s. A long sequence of 1s or a long sequence of
0s produces a long period during which there is no change in the signal level. Consequently, there are
no transitions (”zero crossings”) that help a synchronization circuit determine where the boundary of
each signaling interval is located.

(b) The occurrence of a ”1” induces a transition and helps synchronization. However sequences of ”0s”
still result in periods with no transitions.

(c) Every T -second interval now has a transition in the middle, so synchronization is much simpler. How-
ever, the bandwidth of the signal is doubled, as pulses now are essentially half as wide, that is, T /2
seconds.

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 ELEC 373, W24 Practice Problem Set 2

Problem 5
Consider the single-server queue with geometrically distributed inter-arrival times and service times, with
parameters λ and µ respectively, as discussed in class. Now assume that the system can store a maximum
of 3 packets (including the one in service), and arrivals occur before departures in each time slot.

• Draw the state transition diagram of the queueing system.

• Write down the balance equations of each state.

• Solve the steady-state probabilities.

• What is the probability that a new arrival will be rejected because the queue is full?

• What is the average number of packets in the system?

• What is the average packet delay in the system?

ANSWER:

(a) If we assume the system can store a maximum of B jobs, then we will have the following state transition
diagram:

(b) Let us now calculate the steady-state probability vector π = (π0 , π1 , . . . , πB ), where πi is the probability
of having i packets in the system at steady-state, 0 ≤ i ≤ B. Recall that in order for the system to be
at steady-state, the following equations need to be satisfied:

πi Pi,i+1 = πi+1 Pi+1,i , 0≤i≤B−1

which is known as the local balance equation. Since Pi,i+1 = λ(1 − µ) and Pi+1,i = µ(1 − λ) for
0 ≤ i ≤ B − 1, we have
πi+1 = ρπi , 0 ≤ i ≤ B − 1 (1)
λ(1−µ)
where ρ = µ(1−λ) .

Problem 5 continued on next page. . . Page 3 of 4

 ELEC 373, W24 Practice Problem Set 2

(c) There are B+1 unknown variables (π0 , π1 , . . . , πB ), but we only have B equations from (1). We need
one more equation to solve the problem, which stems from the fact that the system has to be in one
of the B + 1 states:
X B
πi = 1. (2)
i=0

The rest is just to solve these B + 1 equations. From (1), We get

πi = ρ i π0 , 0 ≤ i ≤ B.

which can be substituted into (2) and gives

PB B+1
1= i=0 ρi π0 = π0 1−ρ
1−ρ .

if we have λ < µ (thus we have ρ < 1). It follows that the steady-state probability vector is
1−ρ
π0 = 1−ρB+1
, π i = ρ i π0 , 1 ≤ i ≤ B.

(d) The average queue length is given by

PB PB
L= i=0 i · πi = π0 i=0 i · ρi .

For B=3, we have

1−ρ
L= 1−ρ4 (ρ + 2ρ2 + 3ρ3 ).

(e) The average packet delay is given by the Little’s Law: W = L/λ.

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