Wireless Communications

(3-0-0-3)

CMPE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the CMPE degree.

EE Degree: This course is Selected Elective for the EE degree.

Lab Hours: 0 supervised lab hours and 0 unsupervised lab hours.

Technical Interest Groups / Course Categories: Threads / ECE Electives

Course Coordinator: Brian Michael Beck

Prerequisites: (ECE 2025 [min C] or ECE 2026 [min C]) and (ECE 3020 [min C] or ECE 3084 [min C]) and (CEE 3770 [min D] or ISYE 3770 [min D] or MATH 3770 [min D] or MATH 3670 [min D] or ECE 3077 [min D])

Catalog Description

Cellular concept, wireless propagation modeling, types of digital modulation used in wireless systems, diversity combining, performance over fading channels, and multiple access techniques.

Textbook(s)

Understanding the LTE with MATLAB: From Mathematical Modeling to Simulation and Prototyping

Course Outcomes

Perform basic link budget analysis.

Classify types of channel fading.

Analyze flat fading channel effects with spatial diversity combining. 

Explain the benefits and disadvantages of a minimum shift keying (MSK) signal and how it is modulated and demodulated.

Calculate the average power of a signal from its Power Spectral Density. 

Explain the differences between path loss, multipath fading and shadowing. 

Estimate the bit error rate of an AWGN link, given the signal space representation of the waveform and the noise spectral height.

Estimate the loss from knife edge diffraction. 

Analyze Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) signals. 

Analyze the basic Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) configurations for flat-fading channels. 

Compute the blocking probability, number of channels, or traffic for a Blocked Calls Cleared trunked system.

Classify type of multiple access technique.

Explain the major distinctions between the current wireless standards.

Strategic Performance Indicators (SPIs)

N/A

Topic List

  1. Quick Overview of Wireless System Design Challenges
  2. Path Loss (free space, two-ray, reference power)
  3. Short review of random variables, including Small-scale Fading Distributions  - Rayleigh and Ricean.
  4. Multipath Fading
  5. Coherence Bandwidth
  6. Power spectral density basics
  7. Coherence time
  8. Diversity
  9. Diffraction
  10. Shadowing
  11. Link Budget
  12. Basic parts of a Digital Transmission Link with BPSK
  13. Effects of noise in a BPSK receiver
  14. Geometry of Signals
  15. Power Spectral Density for Linear Modulation
  16. Nyquist Pulses
  17. Matched Filter
  18. Other Linear Techniques
  19. Frequency Shift Keying
  20. MSK Viewed as OQPSK
  21. Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)
  22. Forward error correction (FEC)
  23. Multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO)
  24. Overview of Prevalent standards
  25. Trunking Theory, cellular concept
  26. DSSS and RAKE Receivers
  27. Multiple Access Techniques