Coding & Cryptography (MATH3302)

Course overview

Cryptographic methods for encryption, decryption & authentication. AES, RSA. Error correction & detection. Hamming, BCH, Reed-Solomon & cyclic codes. Applications: CD players, EFTPOS, etc.

There are two parts to this course: coding theory and cryptography.

The coding theory part includes error correction and detection, linear and non-linear codes, error bounds and consideration of efficiency, cyclic codes, and applications.

The cryptography part includes private and public key cryptographic systems, key exchange and authentication protocols, modern encryption standards,ﾠand an introduction to cryptanalysis.

In the School of Mathematics and Physics we are committed to creating an inclusive and empowering learning environment for all students. We value and respect the diverse range of experiences our students bring to their education, and we believe that this diversity is crucial for fostering a rich culture of knowledge sharing and meaningful exploration. We hold both students and staff accountable for actively contributing to the establishment of a respectful and supportive learning environment.

Bullying, harassment, and discrimination in any form are strictly against our principles and against ﾠUQ Policy,ﾠ and will not be tolerated. We have developed a suite of resourcesﾠto assist you in recognising, reporting, and addressing such behaviour. If you have any concerns about your experience in this course, we encourage you to tell a member of the course teaching team or alternatively, contact a SMP Classroom Inclusivity Champion (see Blackboard for contact details). Our Inclusivity Champions are here to listen, to understand your concerns, and to explore potential actions that can be taken to resolve them. Your well-being and a positive learning atmosphere are of utmost importance to us.

Course requirements

Assumed background

Students should be familiar with the system of integers modulo n, and be able to perform modular arithmetic calculations such as finding the inverse of an element using the extended Euclidean algorithm.

Students should be familiar with basic linear algebra includingﾠvectors, norms, matrices, row operations, vector spaces, linear independence, span, bases, dimension.

Prerequisites

You'll need to complete the following courses before enrolling in this one:

MATH2301

Incompatible

You can't enrol in this course if you've already completed the following:

MATH7332 (co-taught)

Jointly taught details

This course is jointly-taught with:

MATH3302 and MATH7332 are co-badged courses and will share lectures and practical. The two courses will have some differences in assessment to evaluate students at the appropriate level of the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Course contact

Course staff

Timetable

The timetable for this course is available on the UQ Public Timetable.

Additional timetable information

All classes will be conducted on campus, consult your personal timetable for times and locations. Students are expected to attend these sessions unless they have a valid reason for being unable to attend (such as illness). Lectures will be recorded. Alternative arrangements will be advised on Blackboard should the campus be closed for any reason.

Practicals commence in week 2. Students should sign-on to one practical time.

Friday 18 April is a public holiday so there will be no practical that day, students are welcome to attend the other practical in that week.

Monday 5 May is a public holiday, so there will be no lecture that day.

Aims and outcomes

The aim of this course is for students to appreciate the important role that mathematics has in enabling secure, error-resistant communication. There are two related broad topic areas: cryptography, which is concerned with secrecy of transmitted information (security), and coding theory, which is concerned with robustness and error-resistance of transmitted data (reliability). In cryptography we willﾠcover various cryptosystems and methods for cryptanalysis, a number of historical and currently-used encryption techniques, and bothﾠpublic- and private-key cryptography. In coding theoryﾠwe will cover error detection and correction, and we will look at several important families of codes and whereﾠthey are used.

Learning outcomes

After successfully completing this course you should be able to:

Assessment

Assessment summary

A hurdle is an assessment requirement that must be satisfied in order to receive a specific grade for the course. Check the assessment details for more information about hurdle requirements.

Assessment details

Assignments

Mode

Written

Category

Tutorial/ Problem Set

Weight

35% Assignment 1 worth 10%, Assignment 2 worth 10%, Assignment 3 worth 15%

Due date

Assignment 1 28/03/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 2 17/04/2025 3:00 pm

Assignment 3 30/05/2025 3:00 pm

Task description

Submission guidelines

Each assignment should be submitted through the appropriate link in Blackboard.

Deferral or extension

You may be able to apply for an extension.

The maximum extension allowed is 7 days. Extensions are given in multiples of 24 hours.

Solutions for each assignment will be released 7 days after the assessment is due and as such, an extension after 7 days will not be possible.

See ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT INFORMATION for further extension/deferral information relating to this assessment item.

Late submission

A penalty of 10% of the maximum possible mark will be deducted per 24 hours from time submission is due for up to 7 days. After 7 days, you will receive a mark of 0.

You are required to submit assessable items on time. If you fail to meet the submission deadline for any assessment item then the listed penalty will be deducted per day for up to 7 calendar days, at which point any submission will not receive any marks unless an extension has been approved. Each 24-hour block is recorded from the time the submission is due.

Coding in-class problem set

• Team or group-based
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Participation/ Student contribution, Tutorial/ Problem Set

Weight

5%

Due date

6/05/2025 - 9/05/2025

Due by the end of your tutorial.

Task description

Submission guidelines

One solution booklet per group will be handed in at the end of the tutorial. All students in a group will receive the same mark for this assessment.

Deferral or extension

You cannot defer or apply for an extension for this assessment.

If you miss your week 10 tutorial for a valid reason (illness, unavoidable travel, etc.), please email the course coordinator to explain your reason and to arrange an alternative time to complete the activity.

Late submission

Each group will hand in their work at the end of the tutorial. There is no late submission.

Final exam

• Hurdle
• Identity Verified
• In-person

Mode

Written

Category

Examination

Weight

60%

Due date

End of Semester Exam Period

7/06/2025 - 21/06/2025

Task description

Hurdle requirements

Exam details

Submission guidelines

Deferral or extension

You may be able to defer this exam.

See ADDITIONAL ASSESSMENT INFORMATION for further deferral information relating to this assessment item.

Course grading

Full criteria for each grade is available in the Assessment Procedure.

Additional course grading information

In order to obtain a grade of 3 or better, a student must achieve a mark of at least 40% on the final exam, regardless of all other assessment.ﾠ

In order to pass the course (receive a grade of 4 or better) a student must achieve a mark of at least 45%ﾠon the final exam, regardless of all other assessment.

Supplementary assessment

Supplementary assessment is available for this course.

Should you fail a course with a grade of 3 you may be eligible for supplementary assessment. Refer to my.UQ for information on supplementary assessment and how to apply.

Supplementary assessment provides an additional opportunity to demonstrate you have achieved all the required learning outcomes for a course.

If you apply for and are granted supplementary assessment, the type of supplementary assessment set will consider which learning outcome(s) have not been met.

Supplementary assessment in this course will be a 2-hour examination similar in style to the end- of-semester examination. To receive a passing grade of 3S4, you must obtain a mark of 50% or more on the supplementary assessment.

Additional assessment information

Artificial Intelligence

Assessment tasks in this course evaluate students' abilities, skills and knowledge without the aid of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) or Machine Translation (MT). Students are advised that the use of AI or MT technologies to develop responses is strictly prohibited and may constitute student misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct.

Instructions for Assignment submission

Prepare your assignment as a single pdf file, either by typing it or by scanning your handwritten work. Ensure that your name and student number appear on the first page of your submission. Check that your pdf file is legible and that the file size is not excessive (aim for less than 7MB). Files that are poorly scanned and/or illegible may not be able to be marked. Upload your submission using the assignment submission link in Blackboard.

Applications for Extensions to Assessment Due Dates

Extension requests are submitted online via my.UQ – applying for an extension. Extension requests received in any other way will not be approved. Additional details associated with extension requests, including acceptable and unacceptable reasons, may be found at my.UQ.

Please note:

• Requests for an extension to an assessment due date must be submitted through your my.UQ portal and you must provide documentation of your circumstances, as soon as it becomes evident that an extension is needed. Your application must be submitted on or before the assessment item's due date and time.
• Applications for extension can take time to be processed so you should continue to work on your assessment item while awaiting a decision. We recommend that you submit any completed work by the due date, and this will be marked if your application is not approved. Should your application be approved, then you will be able to resubmit by the agreed revised due date.
• If an extension is approved, you will be notified via your my.UQ portal and the new date and time for submission provided. It is important that you check the revised date as it may differ from the date that you requested.
• If the basis of the application is a medical condition, applications should be accompanied by a medical certificate dated prior to the assignment due date. If you are unable to provide documentation to support your application by the due date and time you must still submit your application on time and attach a written statement (Word document) outlining why you cannot provide the documentation. You must then upload the documentation to the portal within 24 hours.
• If an extension is being sought on the basis of exceptional circumstances, it must be accompanied by supporting documentation (eg. Statutory declaration).
• For extensions based on a SAP you may be granted a maximum of 7 days. See the Extension or Deferral availability section of each assessment for details. Your SAP is all that is required as documentation to support your application. However, additional extension requests for the assessment item will require the submission of additional supporting documentation e.g., a medical certificate. All extension requests must be received by the assessment due date and time.
• An extension for an assessment item due within the teaching period in which the course is offered, must not exceed four weeks in total. If you are incapacitated for a period exceeding four weeks of the teaching period, you are advised to apply for Removal of Course.
• If you have been ill or unable to attend class for more than 14 days, you are advised to carefully consider whether you are capable of successfully completing your courses this semester. You might be eligible to withdraw without academic penalty - seek advice from the Faculty that administers your program.
• Students may be asked to submit evidence of work completed to date. Lack of adequate progress on your assessment item may result in an extension being denied.
• There are no provisions for exemption from an assessment item within UQ rules. If you are unable to submit an assessment piece then, under special circumstances, you may be granted an exemption, but may be required to submit alternative assessment to ensure all learning outcomes are met.

Applications to defer an exam

In certain circumstances you can apply to take a deferred examination for in-semester and end-of-semester exams. You'll need to demonstrate through supporting documentation how unavoidable circumstances prevented you from sitting your exam. If you can’t, you can apply for a one-off discretionary deferred exam.

Deferred Exam requests are submitted online via mySi-net. Requests received in any other way will not be approved. Additional details associated with deferred examinations, including acceptable and unacceptable reasons may be found at my.UQ.

Please note:

• Applications can be submitted no later than 5 calendar days after the date of the original exam.
• There are no provisions to defer a deferred exam. You need to be available to sit your deferred examination.
• Your deferred examination request(s) must have a status of "submitted" in mySI-net to be assessed.
• All applications for deferred in-semester examinations are assessed by the relevant school. Applications for deferred end-of-semester examinations are assessed by the Academic Services Division.
• You’ll receive an email to your student email account when the status of your application is updated.
• If you have a medical condition, mental health condition or disability and require alternative arrangements for your deferred exam you’ll need to complete the online alternative exam arrangements through my.UQ. This is in addition to your deferred examinations request. You need to submit this request on the same day as your request for a deferred exam or supplementary assessment. Contact Student Services if you need assistance completing your alternative exam arrangements request.

Learning resources

You'll need the following resources to successfully complete the course. We've indicated below if you need a personal copy of the reading materials or your own item.

Library resources

Find the required and recommended resources for this course on the UQ Library website.

Additional learning resources information

The course will have an Ed Discussion board (linked from our Blackboard site) on which students can ask and answer questions. The discussion board will be monitored by the lecturers.ﾠ

Learning activities

The learning activities for this course are outlined below. Learn more about the learning outcomes that apply to this course.

Policies and procedures

University policies and procedures apply to all aspects of student life. As a UQ student, you must comply with University-wide and program-specific requirements, including the:

• Student Code of Conduct Policy
• Student Integrity and Misconduct Policy and Procedure
• Assessment Procedure
• Examinations Procedure
• Reasonable Adjustments - Students Policy and Procedure

Learn more about UQ policies on my.UQ and the Policy and Procedure Library.