The fields of computer engineering and digital data communications are becoming interwoven rapidly. Examples of systems where the disciplines overlap are the telephone network, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) systems and the various local area networks (LANs) serving commerce and education.The computer engineer should understand the principles of digital data communications. The B.S.Co.E. computer engineering program at the New Jersey Institute of Technology includes a two course sequence in the senior year, communications theory and lab. Also, electrical engineering students wishing to specialize in communications, one of the senior year options in the B.S.E.E. program at NJIT, need to increase their understanding of digital data communications through a stronger lab experience. The educational experience of both sets of students is being strengthened considerably by the development of this multidisciplinary laboratory. The equipment being obtained comprises combined pattern generator, pattern detection equipment to measure the bit error rate in data communications systems, multiplexer/ demultiplexer equipment to experiment with the mixing of several data sources on a single medium, and distortion analyzers which can measure the signal/noise ratio and distortion level of transmitted signals.
