ECE 318Communication Systems
- Units
- 0.50
- Faculty
- Engineering
When it runs
- F24
- W25
- S25
- F25
- W26
- S26
- F26
- W27
- S27
Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 2 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.
Introduction to random processes, power spectral density. Thermal noise and the white noise model. Amplitude and angle modulation, generation and detection schemes. Sampling and reconstruction, quantization. Digital baseband transmission. Overview of digital passband communications.
Prerequisites
- Complete all of the following
- Must have completed the following:
- Must have completed at least 1 of the following:
- Students must be in level 3A or higher
- Enrolled in H-Computer Engineering, or H-Electrical Engineering
Antirequisites
None listed.
Leads to
Winter 2027 sections
| Section | Class | Enrolled | Meets |
|---|---|---|---|
| LEC 001 | 4391 | 119 / 130 | TTh 10:00–11:20 Jan 13 12:30–13:20 Jan 27 12:30–13:20 Feb 10 12:30–13:20 Mar 3 12:30–13:20 Mar 17 12:30–13:20 Mar 31 12:30–13:20 |
| LEC 701 | 1944 | 1 / 9999 | Online or by arrangement |
| LAB 201 | 4468 | 36 / 35 | Jan 28 13:30–16:20 Feb 11 13:30–16:20 Mar 11 13:30–16:20 Mar 25 13:30–16:20 Apr 8 13:30–16:20 |
| LAB 202 | 4514 | 33 / 35 | Jan 25 13:30–16:20 Feb 8 13:30–16:20 Mar 8 13:30–16:20 Mar 22 13:30–16:20 Apr 5 13:30–16:20 |
| LAB 203 | 4515 | 35 / 35 | Jan 26 13:30–16:20 Feb 9 13:30–16:20 Mar 9 13:30–16:20 Mar 23 13:30–16:20 Apr 6 13:30–16:20 |
| LAB 204 | 4955 | 15 / 25 | Jan 27 13:30–16:20 Feb 10 13:30–16:20 Mar 10 13:30–16:20 Mar 24 13:30–16:20 Apr 7 13:30–16:20 |
| TUT 101 | 4393 | 119 / 130 | W 09:00–09:50 |
Reviewed on UW Flow
58% liked it30% easy74% useful
From 151 ratings and 33 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.
The course concepts are interesting but they were taught in the most infuriating ways possible. For some reason, the core content was spread between the lectures, homework and tutorials and nothing supported the other. The labs were somewhat interesting but took way too long with respect to how much weight they had (and the grading was very inconsistent). The midterm was fair, the final was doomed. Overall felt like the average termly ECE course that scars you.
Apr 2026 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
This is a really useful course for EE students or if your curious how does radio, bluetooth and wifi (basically the fundamentals of what powers wireless communication). But this is a useless f***ing course for CEs, when will the retards in waterloo stop forcing us to do irrelevant courses and let us do what we want.
Well this is a mandatory course so me shitting on damen is not going to change anything but just know he is a knowledgable prof don't get me wrong but he doesn't know to teach like he is really really bad and hand waves a lot of things. But gives easy exams though but make sure to study. For finals, don't skip pre-midterm it might come back to bite you later.Aug 2025 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Actually a really interesting course and Professor Damen taught it well. Can be conceptually difficult but we got fair exams.
Apr 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Fav and most interesting class of 3A
Feb 2025 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
why
Jun 2023 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this
Discussed on r/uwaterloo
66 posts and comments in 54 threads mention ECE 318, April 2011 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.
Winter 2023
How to study for ECE 318? 3 points, 1 comment
u/jeonjo: “I’m so fucked I don’t even know how to tackle this course lol”
CE 4A TEs 8 points, 30 comments
u/OkCelery1514: “… I took ECE 380, ECE 318, & ECE 327 in 3A and performed at the average in all these courses. I liked the content of ECE 380, ECE 358, ECE 356, & ECE 351. I want a (relatively) light workload, but to still learn some new things. …”
Winter 2022
Advice or insights for 3A CE please 12 points, 5 comments
u/waterlooecesucks: “… ECE 318 - Weihua Zhuang ECE 350 - Ziqiang (Patrick) Huang ECE 327 - William Bishop ECE 380 - Andrew Leunis The only prof I know is Bishop and I heard he’s goated, the other profs I’m not familiar with. Here are some questions: 1. How important is ECE 207 for ECE 318 and ECE 380? …”
CE 3A Course load - how does it look? 5 points, 1 comment
u/dontRemoveTheHurdles: “… Core Courses: ECE 318 - Communication Systems ECE 327 - Digital Hardware Systems ECE 350 - Real Time OS (cries) ECE 380 - Analog Control Systems Electives: MSCI 442 SCI 238 - Intro to Astronomy I really want to take at least one extra elective so I can free up later terms for …”
Fall 2021
Easiest to hardest CE 3A Courses ranked? 13 points, 6 comments
u/active0wl: “Among ECE 318, ECE 327, ECE 350, and ECE 380, how would you rank them easiest to hardest?”
u/Lone_Wolfffff: “You should probably have mentioned the profs because they make all the difference. ECE 318 - Liang-Liang Xie ECE 327 - Hiren Patel ECE 350 - Sayed Majid Zahedi ECE 380 - Rollen D'Souza”
u/Xierumeng: “… Difficulty: (Hard) ECE 350 > ECE 318 > ECE 380 > ECE 327 (Easy). ECE 350 labs were killer. ECE 318 had a bad professor. ECE 380 was pretty straightforward (except the mechanics question in test 1). ECE 327 had a great and supportive professor (Nachiket Kapre <3). …”
What is your least favourite course? 31 points, 55 comments
u/AdorableStart5858: “ECE 240, ECE 318”
Spring 2021
ECE 318 - How to prepare? 0 points, 9 comments
u/Lone_Wolfffff: “I was hoping to do some studying before I begin the term in January. I heard that this course, in particular, is quite difficult. Would anybody be able to provide some advice on how to prepare? Like any textbooks that I could start reading now?”
ECE 318 Now in 3B Term? 2 points, 2 comments
u/Lone_Wolfffff: “This link says that ECE 318 is going to happen during the 3B term (for winter 2022). But this link says it's happening during the 3A term. Would anybody here happen to know if there has been a change in the curriculum?”
[deleted]: [deleted]
u/Lone_Wolfffff: “Yeah winter is Jan - Apr 2022, but for ECE 318, it says that it's reserved for ECE 3B students”
ECE 240 with Peter Levine 15 points, 19 comments
“Has anyone here had Peter Levine for ECE 240? What topics does he usually put more emphasis on during the course? Is there anything specific from ECE 140 I should review? (ie op amps)”
u/mywaterlooaccount: “emphasis is obviously on stuff you haven't seen before, and don't bother imo you're gonna get murked either way gl”
u/Kama_0r_Kunai: “Gl to next gen ece380 and 318 students”
ECE 318 12 points, 6 comments
u/wtfis318: “but why is this course so poorly taught, like course notes are just slides filled with 30 equations/slide and lectures are just the prof reading off the slides”
Are Engineering Courses available to take for students from other faculties ? 2 points, 3 comments
“I'm in Math and I was interested in some engineering courses (I have the prereqs and the classes have lots of room). Can I take some? Edit: grammer”
u/Frozen-Penis: “… in the past ECE 414 had no prereqs other than being 4A ECE, yet it is a direct continuation of ECE 318 but they didn't bother to list that since every ECE student back then would have taken 318 in 3B)”
Winter 2021
ece 318 damen 4 points, 10 comments
u/ece240amirite: “we have damen teaching us ece 318 this spring and i'm a lil worried by all the damening (:D) reviews i've read about him. How did y'all feel about Damen? any pointers to do well in this course with him?”
Check it elsewhere for Fall 2026
- Undergraduate Calendar, 2026–27The official entry
- Requirements for Fall 2026Waterloo’s requisite checker
- Schedule of Classes, Fall 2026Instructors, rooms, live seats
- Quest Class SearchWhere you enrol
- Course outlinesSyllabi from past terms (UW login)
- UW FlowStudent ratings and reviews
- WClassesPast sections back to 2004, and who taught them