Teaching advanced methods of signal processing and transmission at universities of civil engineering

Introduction. Development and widespread dissemination of information technologies, including the Internet, mobile communications, cloud computing, Big Data, the Internet of Things, digital twin, etc. are being proactively introduced into versatile production and business processes of the construction industry. Therefore, a graduate of a civil engineering university must master the fundamentals of the above-listed technologies and know how to use them in his/her practical activities. It’s particularly important for those specialities that deal with information technologies in civil engineering. However, a number of important areas of knowledge that serve as the basis for mobile communications, the Internet, and wireless technologies, are only taught at specialized universities and schools. Nevertheless, students of civil engineering universities need to understand the theoretical provisions and processes of information technologies. Materials and methods. Systematization, the benchmark method, theoretical generalization of data extracted from literary sources were applied. Results. The founding notions, needed to discuss digital technologies, encompass temporary signal notation, spectral characteristics, spectral bandwidth, time and frequency division, multiplexing, discrete sampling and quantization of a signal. It is impossible to successfully study and effectively use these advanced technologies without having understood these fundamental technologies. The author offers a simplified explanation of these notions and principal processes in terms of their application in the construction industry. Conclusions. The author addresses complicated issues of the theory of signals and their transmission over communication lines. He presents the three key ideas that serve as the basis for multiple advanced information technologies, including time and spectrum signal notation, time and frequency division, multiplexing, discrete sampling and quantization of a signal. The author’s ideas can be used to teach mobile technologies, the Internet, the Internet of Things, cloud and edge computing, digital twin, etc.