Post by
szh »
https://forums.nicoclub.com/szh-u149.html
Sun Apr 06, 2003 11:38 am
All technical work requires a fundamental knowledge of mathematics. Whether it be in the "hard sciences" (Physics, Chemistry, etc.) or the "engineering" fields (IndustrialEng, ChemEng, MechEng, etc.) My background is in Semiconductor Physics and I can assure you that an excellent grounding in math is essential - even for a BS, let alone for MS or PhD/ScD degrees. So, math does not scare me, yet ...
Some years ago, I switched to the telecommunications field and if you think this is easy, nope! The CDMA cellular system (as deployed by Verizon Wireless, Alltel, Sprint in the US) uses spread spectrum techniques that are extremely complex. A few days ago, I had to dive into a book on the topic (fwiw, it is called "Third-Generation CDMA Systems for Enhanced Data Services") and have had to crack open my old math texts to try and follow the information presented in here.
Just look at the following words from chapter 3: A set of functions {f sub n} all of length N are mutually orthogonal if the following relationship holds: (eq left out for simplicity). In this equation, delta sub r is known as the dirac-delta operator. This operator is 1 when r = 0, or zero otherwise. If the summation in the equation is simply delta sub k-l rather than N delta sub k-l, a user can suppress signals intended for other users in a CDMA system while capturing his own.
My first reaction on reading this was "Huhn?". I had no clue what they were talking about! After three or four days of reading other texts, I finally understood the above ... just one short section. Imagine how long it is going to take me to read through this book and "get it"! Argh!
Z