EECS20N: Signals and Systems

Labs

Useful links:

Each student must enroll in one lab section. It will meet once a week for three hours in room 105 Cory. It will start with the TA giving a brief overview of the lab and required background material. Students are then expected to work at the computers to begin the lab assignments. Towards the end of the three-hour session, students may approach the TA with questions about homework, lecture materials, or general issues in the course. See lab assignments to determine which TA is responsible for which section.

The first lab will begin in the second week of the semester. You will be given an account by the TA in charge of your lab section. On occasion, a holiday may coincide with your lab section. If so, you must find another lab section to attend for that week only, but be sure to consult the TA of the section that you want to attend in advance.

The lab exercises are (typically) divided into two parts:

  • In lab. A few simple exercises that should be completed within the scheduled lab time. The lab instructor will verify this by initialing the parts of the instructor verification sheet. Each student must turn in their own sheet to the instructor before leaving the lab.
  • Independent. The main part of the lab may be completed during the scheduled lab period, or on your own time. It typically consists of some simple exercises and/or a design project that requires assembling many individual parts. Your lab writeup should summarize this work. Usually you can (and should) complete this part during the scheduled lab period as well. You are welcome to work in groups of up to FIVE current EECS 20N students, but each student must turn in his or her own lab writeup. Your team-mates must be in the same lab section as you.

The lab writeup is due at the beginning of the next lab. Please follow the guidelines for lab writeups. Keep them simple.

The purposes of the lab are: (1) to cultivate skills in formulating questions and answers using a high-level software environment; (2) to develop intuition about lecture material by working with signals and systems numerically (rather than symbolically, as in the homework sets); and (3) to develop an understanding of the relationship between mathematical theory and executable procedures.

In addition, you may use the lab computers at any time that there is no scheduled lab for access to these web pages, the lab software, and other course-related materials.

Lab schedule

Lab reports are due at the subsequent lab.