WELCOME LECTURE (a.k.a. LECTURE 0)
A live welcome lecture will take place online on September *, 2026, **:**-**:** (Italian time) for first-year students, and on Sep. *, 2026, **:**-**:** (Italian time) for second-year students.
(2025 P. Serena, I year) Video:; Slides: .
(The above videos/slides are password protected, if you are (pre-)enrolled please write to paolo.serena@unipr.it to get the access credentials.)
(2025 P. Serena, II year) Slides: .
ONLINE RESOURCES
Transitioning to a Master of Science that uses advanced mathematics across several courses can sometimes reveal gaps in areas like linear algebra, calculus, complex numbers, and Fourier analysis. To help smooth out your background, we highly recommend 3blue1brown—a great online resource with short, visual videos that make these concepts intuitive and much easier to grasp.
We recommend watching the following sections:
- Linear algebra
- Calculus
- Individual videos on Fourier transform and convolution in the Analysis section
- Lockdown math
PREPARATORY COURSES
A two-week preparatory course was offered in recorded video-lectures (taped in 2017) to students to consolidate their background knowledge. We recommend admitted students to watch the prep-course video lectures to check and refresh their knowledge, before the start of the official LMCE classes this year. You can request the password to prof. Alberto Bononi (alberto.bononi@unipr.it)
2017 Video Lectures are available by clicking on the following links (WARNING_how_to_set_audio_quality_in_videos):
Sep. 2017 Prep-Course Programme:
Intro to Communication Engineering (G. Ferrari):
Mathematical Methods for Engineers (P. Serena): ; Slides
Fourier Transform (A. Vannucci): Slides
Stochastic Processes (A. Vannucci): Slides
Probability Theory (A. Bononi): Lec. 1 ; Lec. 2 ; Lec. 3 ; Lec. 4 ; Slides
Signals and Systems (A. Ugolini): ; Slides
Digital Communications (P. Serena): Lec.1 ; Lec. 2 ; Slides
In the Week 14-18 September 2020 teachers of the above courses met with students to clarifiy issues about their lectures. Here are the video recordings:
- P. Serena (Mathematical Methods for Engineers): Tue. Sep 15 10:30-12:30
- P. Serena (Introduction to Matlab scientific programming):
- A. Ugolini (Signals and Systems): Tue. Sep 15 14:30-16:30
- G. Ferrari (Intro to Communication Engineering): Wed. Sep 16 11:00-12noon Slides
- G. Colavolpe (Digital Communications): Wed. Sep 16 14:30-16:30
- T. Foggi (Probability videos 1,2): Thu. Sep 17 10.30-12.30 Slides
- T. Foggi (probability videos 3,4): Fri. Sep 18 10:30-12:30
- A. Vannucci (Fourier Transforms, Stochastic Processes): Fri Sep 18 14:30-16:30
Other Background Knowledge Sources
On top of that, as a light primer, you can read the following Wikipedia pages:
- Fundamentals of Math: Vector space, Matrix, Calculus, Vector calculus, Taylor series
- Probability, random variables and stochastic processes: Probability theory, Random variable, Probability distribution, Independence (probability theory), Expected value, Variance, Covariance, Central Limit theorem, Stochastic process, Law of total probability, Bayes’ theorem, Autocorrelation, Power spectral density
- Signals, systems and Fourier transform methods: Signal (electrical engineering), Linear time-invariant theory, Fourier transform, Convolution
- Fundamentals of communication systems: Modulation, Telecommunication, Matched filter, Intersymbol interference, Bandwidth (signal processing), Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem, Nyquist ISI criterion, bit error rate
- Fundamentals of electromagnetism: Electric field, Magnetic field, Classical electromagnetism, Wave
If, after watching the prep classes, you feel your background is not sufficiently strong, we also recommend that you take the free online courses on the above topics offered at either MIT or at khanacademy.