Description

This course presents the fundamental principles and practice of current wireless communications systems and technologies. The course begins by providing the historical context and defining the major technical challenges in wireless communications systems. Next, the wireless channel is described in detail including path loss, shadowing, and fading, and introduces the system models in use. The fundamental limit on transmission rate over wireless channels is studied in terms of capacity. The transmission of data by signalling over wireless channels via standard digital modulation and optimum detection methods are discussed. Countermeasures to fading and interference via diversity and equalization techniques are covered briefly. The final major section extends wireless communication principles to multiple user systems. Key issues are identified including multiple access in the uplink and downlink, capacity and power control. Performance and design of cellular communications networks is also discussed. Recent trends are surveyed near the end. This course builds upon and supplements knowledge from ELEC 323, ELEC 324, and ELEC 326.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)

• To be able to describe technically how wireless systems work.
• To understand how wireless channels are mathematically modelled.
• Analyze effects of shadowing, path loss, and fading on performance.
• Understand fundamental limitations of transmission over wireless channels.
• Understand physical signal transmission by modulation and coding.
• Design receivers with optimal detection.
• Analyze wireless communications system and network performance.
• Understand fundamental issues in multiuser wireless communications
• Design cellular systems to achieve coverage area, spectrum allocation and quality of service specifications.

Credit Breakdown

Lecture: 3
Lab: 0
Tutorial: 0

Academic Unit Breakdown

Mathematics 0
Natural Sciences 0
Complementary Studies 0
Engineering Science 18
Engineering Design 18

PREREQUISITE(S): ELEC 323, ELEC 324, ELEC 326

Outline:

Introduction (3 lectures; Chapters 1-3): History, types of services and associated requirements; technical challenges including multipath propagation, spectrum limitation, limited energy, user mobility; definitions of noise and interference-limited systems; link budgets.

Part I: Point-to-Point System Basics (approx. 7 weeks)

Wireless Propagation Channels (6 lectures; Sections 4.1-4.3, 5.1-5.4, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1-7.3), including propagation mechanisms (free space attenuation, reflection and transmission, diffraction); statistical description: time-invariant /varying models, small scale fading,  dominant component, wideband and directional channel characterization, delay dispersion, narrow-/wide band channel models.

Transceivers (6 lectures; Chapters 10, 11, Sections 12.1,12.2.1, 12.3.1, 13.4) block abstraction, modulation formats, demodulation, error probability computations in noise and fading, physical cause of error floors in dispersive fading.

Diversity (2 lectures; Sections 13.1, 13.2): Basic principles, micro-diversity, signal combining.

Channel coding and information theory (3 lectures; Sections 14.1-14.3): Channel capacity and relation to coding, capacity and channel state information at transmitter, capacity of fading channels.

Equalization (3 lectures; Chapter 16.1, 16.2, 8.1-8.4): models in time and frequency domain, linear equalization principles, channel sounding methods.

Part II: Multi-user Systems (approx. 4 weeks)

Multiple access and in cellular communications (8 lectures; Chapters 17,18.2,8.3): frequency and time division multiple access, trunking gain, queuing principles, blocking probability, system capacity and performance measures, packet radio, carrier sense multiple access, duplexing, cellular network design, spread spectrum systems with code division multiples access (CDMA), cellular CDMA, power control, methods for capacity enhancement.

Survey of recent advances: (4 lectures from Chapters 19-22) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing, multi-antenna systems, cognitive radio, relaying, multi-hop and cooperative communications systems, energy efficiency.

Above text references are to A. F. Molisch,  Wireless Communications, Second Edition, Wiley, 2011.

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