Course Information

1) Subject Description

Fundamentals of signal processing, focusing on the use of Fourier methods to analyze and process signals such as sounds and images. Topics include Fourier series, Fourier transforms, the Discrete Fourier Transform, sampling, convolution, deconvolution, filtering, noise reduction, and compression. Applications draw broadly from areas of contemporary interest with emphasis on both analysis and design.

Prerequisite: The prerequisite for 6.3000 (formerly 6.003) is 6.100A (formerly 6.0001), and this prerequisite will be strictly enforced. Students will also benefit from prior exposure to complex numbers and complex exponential functions.

2) Schedule

Lectures: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00 to 3:00 PM, 3-270

Lectures are intended to provide a concise overview of the technical content as well as the conceptual framework for that content.

Recitation Sections: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3:00 to 4:00 PM, 4-237 (with Mark) or 4-370 (with Titus)

Recitations are intended to reinforce material from lecture and to demonstrate how to solve problems using that material.

Common Room Office Hours:
-- Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 PM in 26-204
-- Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 7:30 to 9:30 PM in 26-204

Common room office hours are provided for students to work on homework and lab assignments. Staff members will be available for check-ins and to answer questions about homeworks, labs, lectures, recitations, or general 6.3000-related concepts. Students are encouraged to work together and help each other, subject to the 6.3000 collaboration policies. (See below.)

3) Homework

Weekly homework assignments will consist of exercises, problems, and labs.

Exercises are intended to reinforce basic concepts introduced in lecture and recitation. Exercises are automatically graded to provide immediate feedback.

Problems are designed to help you to develop a solid understanding of the subject matter and to become proficient in the skillful use of these concepts. The problems are self-contained, well-specified, and generally have a single correct answer.

Labs are designed to illustrate the kinds of applications that can be addressed using signal processing techiques. Labs are generally more open-ended than conventional exam-style problems and can usually be solved in multiple ways. They often have multiple valid answers.

All exercises, problems, and labs are due before lecture (2:00 PM) on the Thursday after the homework was posted.

Part of each lab is an optional check-in that is due by 9:30 PM on the Tuesday following when the lab was posted. Check-ins are intended to make sure that you understand the lab problem (which is somewhat open-ended by design) and that you have formulated an appropriate approach. Labs will be graded on conceptual correctness as well as clarity of the exposition.

Check-ins are optional. You can complete a check-in by describing your plan for completing the lab to a staff member. If your plan is reasonable, you will receive an A for the check-in, and that A will count for 1/3 of your weekly lab score, which will otherwise be determined entirely by your grade for your written solution to the lab. (That is, the lab check-in can only improve your lab score.)

You should submit written answers to both Problems and Labs by uploading a PDF or a scan of your work using the online submission boxes associated with each question.

3.1) Extensions

If you are experiencing personal or medical difficulties that prevent you from completing some of the work in 6.3000, please talk with a dean at Student Support Services.

With their support, we will work with you to plan an effective accomodation.

4) Quizzes and Final Exam

Quizzes will be given during regular class times (2:00 to 4:00 PM) on September 30 and November 4. Requests to take a quiz at a different time will not be approved for conflicts with other activities (including other classes) since the quizzes are scheduled during the regular required meeting times for 6.3000. Requests for quiz accomodations for personal or medical issues should be discussed with the instructors (6.3000-instructors@mit.edu) and/or Student Support Services (S^3).

The quizzes will cover all materials contained in lectures, recitations, labs, and homeworks up to the date of the quiz (including materials covered on previous quizzes).

A three-hour final exam will be given during the Final Examination Period at the end of the semester. The final exam will be comprehensive across all materials in this subject; however, materials since the quizzes will be weighted more heavily. The final exam will be scheduled by MIT's Registrar's Office. Conflicts with the scheduled time must be resolved by scheduling a conflict examination with MIT's Registrar's Office.  

Quizzes and the final exam will be graded in a two step process. First, each question will be awarded "points" based on technical correctness and reasoning. Then the staff will determine grade boundaries based on MIT's definitions of letter grades. For example, the boundary between A's and B's will be set to the lowest total point score for which an A will be assigned. The grade boundaries will be used to convert the total point score to a "normalized" 10-point score using a piecewise linear interpolation.

Normalized scores greater than or equal to 9 correspond to a letter grade of A; normalized scores in the range [8-9) correspond to a letter grade of B; and so on.

4.1) Overall Grade in 6.3000

Your final grade in 6.3000 will be computed as a weighted average of the following components:

• Participation: 5%
• Exercises: 5%
• Problems: 20%
• Labs: 15%
• Quiz 1: 10%
• Quiz 2: 20%
• Final Exam: 25%

where each component grade is expressed on a normalized 10-point scale.

The overall grade for exercises will be proportional to the percent correct for each assigned exercise after multiplying by a lateness factor. The lateness factor is 0.5 for late submissions made within four calendar days of the due date. After four days, the lateness factor falls to 0.

The overall grade for problems will be based on the number of homework "points" accumulated during the semester: 5 points for each homework problem that received an A, 4 points for each problem that received a B, 3 points for each C, 2 points for each D, 1 point for each F, and 0 points if not submitted. The total number of points is then converted to a normalized 10-point score as follows:

The overall lab grade will be computed using the procedure described above for homework problems, with 1/3 of the weekly lab points counted as an A for each week that you received a check-in.

5) Collaboration Policies

We encourage students to discuss 6.3000 concepts and approaches with other students and with the teaching staff to better understand these materials. However, it is important that these conversation be held at a high level, and work that you submit under your name -- including derivations, programs, plots, and explanations -- must be your own. When you submit an assignment under your name, you are certifying that the details are entirely your own work and that you played at least a substantial role in the conception stage.

Students should not take credit for work done by other students. Students should not use solutions of other students (from this semester or from previous semesters) in preparing their own solutions. And students should not share their work with other students, including through public repositories such as GitHub.

Copying work and/or knowingly making work available for copying are serious offenses that may result in reduced grades, failing the course, and disciplinary action.

Weekly homework assignments provide an opportunity to develop intuition for new concepts by actively applying the new concepts to solve problems and answer questions. The process of actively struggling with the use of new ideas until you understand them is an effective and rewarding form of education. Reading someone's solution to a problem is not educationally equivalent to generating your own solution. If you skip the process of personally struggling with new concepts by getting the answers from someone else, you will have lost a valuable learning experience.

Good problems are a valuable resource. Don't squander that resource.

These policies are in place with the primary goal of helping you learn more effectively. If you have any questions about why the policies are structured as they are, or if a certain type of collaboration is allowed, just ask! You can do so by sending e-mail to the instructors (6.3000-instructors@mit.edu).

For more information, see the academic integrity handbook.

• Contact e-mail: 6.3000-instructors@mit.edu