Communications Group

Description of Activities

Research is conducted in the general areas of information theory, statistical communication theory and signal processing. More specifically, current research activities can be divided into four main thrust areas. One area involves single and multi-user information theory, source and channel coding theory, vector quantization, coding for communications and storage, data synchronization and the Shannon theoretic analysis of communication systems with memory. The second thrust area focuses on the design, implementation and analysis of digital communication techniques, with applications to the processing and transmission of multimedia signals over wireline and wireless communication networks. This includes: low complexity signal compression, error-control coding and joint source-channel coding, bandwidth efficient coded modulation, space-time coding, diversity combining schemes for wireless transmission, analysis of synchronization procedures, analytical studies of fading models and fading channel performance, and error analysis of uncoded and coded communication systems. The third area concerns the stochastic modeling of communication network phenomena and controls, including routing, call admission, and retrials, computation of performance measures such as blocking probabilities, and network optimization. The fourth thrust area is in statistical communications and signal processing with special attention to time series analysis and spectrum estimation, adaptive detection techniques, and environmental effects on communications systems.

Faculty	Research Interests
Fady Alajaji	Information and communication theory; source and channel coding; vector quantization; digital communications
L. Lorne Campbell (Emeritus)	Information and communication theory
Navin Kashyap	Coding for data communication and storage; symbolic dynamics; source coding and data compression; information theory; data synchronization
Tamás Linder	Information and communication theory; source and vector quantization; statistical pattern recognition and machine learning
Glen Takahara	Communication networks, queuing systems, Bayesian methodology
David J. Thomson	Statistical communications, signal processing, time series and spectrum estimation, environmental effects on communications systems; global warming; space physics. Prof. Thomson is Canada Research Chair in Statistics and Signal Processing.
Serdar Yüksel	Stochastic and distributed control; information theory, multi-user communication systems; team decision theory

Affiliated Faculty	Primary Affiliation	Research Interests
Norman C. Beaulieu	Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta	Digital communications systems, wireless communications, applied probability theory
Saeed Gazor	Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Queen's University	Signal and speech processing; wireless communications; information theory and coding

Courses Offered:

Math 800 - Communications Seminar
Math 806 - Introduction to Coding Theory
Math 872 - Control of Stochastic Systems
Math 874 - Information Theory
Math 877 - Source Coding and Quantization
Math 878 - Topics in Communication Theory
Math 884 - Data Networks
Math 978 - Advanced Topics in Communication Theory
Stat 854 - Statistical Spectrum Estimation
Stat 855 - Stochastic Processes and Applications

Application for Graduate Studies:

Queen's provides an ideal environment to do graduate study in Mathematics and Engineering, Applied Mathematics or Mathematics or Statistics. Our course curriculum is rigorous and increasingly diverse. The applicants should follow the guidelines listed here. Typically students with backgrounds in mathematics, applied mathematics, electrical and computer engineering and systems engineering with strong interests in mathematical sciences will find the graduate program very stimulating and rewarding.

Our research environment is enhanced by a very active group of graduate students. There is always a steady stream of visiting scholars and post-doctoral fellows.