Exploring Digital Information Technologies for Non-Engineers
Fall 2024

ECE 101 Banner

Course Description

This course will give students from outside of Engineering an under-the-hood view of 12 important technologies that will impact their daily lives in the next decade.

For each technology, students will

1. understand the core technical challenges in realizing the technology
2. gain intuition on how the challenges are being solved
3. appreciate how such technologies translate to business and revenue, and
4. identify implications in areas such as privacy, fairness, policy, ethics, and other paradigm shifts.

Technical subjects to be considered include basics of sensing, computing, communication, and control, the 4 pillars of technology. To help students better relate to the topics discussed in the course, each technology will be highlighted using one or more well-established companies (e.g., Comcast, ATT, Google, Meta, ADT, Amazon, Microsoft, Tesla, Verisign).


Logistics

Lectures

Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:00am - 11:50am at 3081 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg (ECEB)

See Lecture Schedule

Labs

Fridays, 11:00am - 12:50pm or 1:00pm - 2:50pm at 3081 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg (ECEB)

We will use Mathematica in the labs. To work on the labs, you will have to download and install Mathematica on your computers from here (using your netID and password).

You can also access notebooks directly from within your browser at www.wolframcloud.com by logging in with your netID and password. However some of the more code-intensive exercises can run into issues on the cloud. We recommend installing the desktop application for a better experience

Labs will be submitted and graded using Gradescope. Details about the submission process will be provided during class.

Communication

TBD

Office Hours

Instructor: Abrita Chakravarty

Mondays & Wednesdays, 11:50am - 12:20pm or by appointment

TA: Sattwik Basu

Tuesdays, 4:00pm - 5:00pm at 4034 Electrical & Computer Eng Bldg


Calendar

Introduction

Mon, Aug 26
Course Introduction & Landscape
Logistics, topics, grading, prerequisites, etc.
10 thousand foot view (Internet) to 100 feet view (programming)
Part 1 Slides / Part 2 Notebook
Wed, Aug 28
Course Introduction & Landscape contd.
Slides
Fri, Aug 30
History & Map of Keywords + Lab 1
Introduction to Wolfram Notebooks
Slides Notebook

Past & Present — Connecting the World

Mon, Sep 2
Labor Day (Holiday)
 
Wed, Sep 4
WiFi
Slides
Fri, Sep 6
Lab 2
WiFi
Notebook
Mon, Sep 9
Cellular
Slides
Wed, Sep 11
Cellular (contd.) 
Extra slide with SINR Calculation
Fri, Sep 13
No Lab
 
 
Mon, Sep 16
Internet (1/3)
Connectivity, Forwarding, and Routing
Slides, Cliques
Wed, Sep 18
Internet (2/3)
HTTP, DNS, TCP, and Layering
Slides
Fri, Sep 20
Lab 3
Internet and Graphs
Notebook
Mon, Sep 23
Internet (3/3 TCP and Layering)  
Slides
Wed, Sep 25
Client-Server; Distribution and Streaming Part 1 
Slides
Fri, Sep 27
Lab 4
Distribution and Streaming; Social Networks
Notebook
Mon, Sep 30
Social Network
Lecture Notebook
Wed, Oct 2
Distribution and Streaming Part 2; Exam 1 Review
Study Guide/Sample Exam
Fri, Oct 4
Exam 1
 

Intelligence & Implications

Mon, Oct 7
Introduction to Machine Intelligence
Slides
Wed, Oct 9
Search Engines
Slides
Fri, Oct 11
Lab 5
Search Engines
Pre-lab Video; Notebook
Mon, Oct 14
Recommendation Systems
Slides; Notebook
Wed, Oct 16
Machine Learning I
Notebook
Fri, Oct 18
Lab 6
Machine Learning
Notebook
Mon, Oct 21
Machine Learning II
Slides Contd. from Oct 16
Wed, Oct 23
Ethics and Privacy and Fairness
Slides
Fri, Oct 25
Lab 7
Security and Authentication Neural Networks
Slides
Mon, Oct 28
 Authentication
Slides, Notebook
Wed, Oct 30
Physical Security; Exam 2 Review
Slides; Study Guide/Sample Exam
Fri, Nov 1
Exam 2

Future

Mon, Nov 4
Sense-Compute-Communicate-Actuate
Notebook
Wed, Nov 6
Sense-Compute-Communicate-Actuate
Notebook 1 / Notebook 2
Fri, Nov 8
Lab 8
Sense-Compute-Communicate-Actuate
Notebook
Mon, Nov 11
Computer Vision
Slides
Wed, Nov 13
Speech and Natural Language Processing
Slides
Fri, Nov 15
Lab 9
Computer Vision
Notebook
Mon, Nov 18
Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality
Slides
Wed, Nov 20
Self-driving (Guest Lecture)
Slides
Fri, Nov 22
No Lab
Sat, Nov 23
Fall Break Begins
Sun, Dec 1
Fall Break Ends
Mon, Dec 2
File Systems
Wed, Dec 4
Working with Data
Notebook
Fri, Dec 6
Lab 10
Working with Data
Notebook

Final Week

Mon, Dec 9
Exam 3 Review
Study Guide
Wed, Dec 11
Exam 3
 

Exam Information

The course has three midterm exams. There will NOT be any final exam.

Each exam will be 50 mins long. You are allowed 1 letter-size (8.5" x 11") handwritten cheatsheet (you may use both sides). The exam is closed book/notes, and calculators are not allowed.
Detailed information on logistics, format, and grading will be provided during exam review sessions.

Exam 1

Exam 1 will be on Wed, Oct 2 Fri, Oct 4. This exam will test concepts covered in the Past & Present module.

Exam 2

Exam 2 will be on Wed, Oct 30 Fri, Nov 1. This exam will test concepts covered in the Intelligence & Implications module.

Exam 3

Exam 3 will be on Wed, Dec 11. This exam will test concepts covered in the Future module.


Grading Information

Your final grade will be based on a weighted combination of the following:

  • Classroom participation: 20% (6 absences allowed)
  • Weekly Labs (best 8 out of 10): 35%
  • Three Midterm Exams: 3 x 15 = 45%
    (Regrade policy: Correct mistakes and turn in for half of the points lost.)

 

 

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