Course syllabus for Wireless communications

Course syllabus adopted 2024-02-02 by Head of Programme (or corresponding).

Overview

  • Swedish nameTrådlös kommunikation
  • CodeSSY135
  • Credits7.5 Credits
  • OwnerMPICT
  • Education cycleSecond-cycle
  • Main field of studyElectrical Engineering
  • DepartmentELECTRICAL ENGINEERING
  • GradingTH - Pass with distinction (5), Pass with credit (4), Pass (3), Fail

Course round 1

  • Teaching language English
  • Application code 13124
  • Block schedule
  • Open for exchange studentsYes

Credit distribution

0107 Examination 7.5 c
Grading: TH		0 c0 c7.5 c0 c0 c0 c

In programmes

Examiner

Eligibility

General entry requirements for Master's level (second cycle)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Specific entry requirements

English 6 (or by other approved means with the equivalent proficiency level)
Applicants enrolled in a programme at Chalmers where the course is included in the study programme are exempted from fulfilling the requirements above.

Course specific prerequisites

A passing grade in SSY125 Digital Communications, or a similar course, is required.
This implies working knowledge of basic concepts in signal processing (linear filtering, convolution, impulse response, frequency response, Fourier transforms), probability and random processes (probability density functions, conditional probabilities, expectation, power spectral density), modulation (pulse-amplitude modulation, quadrature modulation, intersymbol interference), error-control coding (block codes, convolutional codes), error probability analysis for additive white Gaussian (AWGN) channels, power efficiency, and spectral efficiency, and channel capacity for AWGN channels. Basic MATLAB skills programming skills are required to complete the course projects.

Aim

The course provides students with a technical understanding of wireless communication systems, including the wireless channel, signal design choices, and algorithms in current wireless communication standards. The course covers basic propagation models, multi-carrier, multi-antenna, and multi-user communication, as well as 5G and beyond 5G communication systems.

Learning outcomes (after completion of the course the student should be able to)

  • Describe the main components of the wireless channel (path loss, shadowing, fading) and compute the Doppler spread, delay spread, coherence time, and coherence bandwidth.
  • Define and compute the performance metrics instantaneous error probability, average error probability, and outage probability and understand which metric is appropriate for which scenario
  • Define ergodic and outage channel capacity and explain under which conditions these concepts indicate the spectral efficiency of an optimum link design
  • Evaluate the performance of communication links over fading channels by analysis and computer simulations
  • Define the concepts of time, frequency, and space diversity and explain how diversity can be achieved in practice. Computer performance of wireless communication with diversity.
  • Design and interpret power and rate allocation algorithm, including statistical and deterministic water-filling, and apply them in OFDM, MIMO and multi-user communication. 
  • Design OFDM and MIMO communication systems based on the channel characteristics. Explain how channel state information at the transmitter can be used for optimizing performance. 
  • Define the concepts of channel reuse, uplink, downlink, multiple access, multiplexing, frequency-division, time-division, code-division, and space-division and apply them to design multi-user communication systems. 
  • Explain the effect of hardware impairments on the communication link. 
  • Describe the main components of 5G communication, motivate the use of massive MIMO in multi-user uplink and downlink. 
  • Explain the benefits of 5G for localization and describe the relevant geometric channel models in terms of delays, distances, and angles.  
  • Describe the current knowledge of health effects of electromagnetic radiation and how this affects the design of wireless communication equipment via regulations, recommendations, and measurement methods for determining safe levels of exposure
  • Describe the foundations for ethical scientific research (e.g. related to dual use, data collection, plagiarism and authorship)

Content

  • Radio propagation mechanisms: antennas, path loss, shadowing, small-scale fading
  • Time-varying impulse and frequency response and statistical characterization of wide-sense stationary uncorrelated scattering channels
  • Performance metrics of wireless communication, including channel capacity
  • Diversity methods in space, time and frequency
  • Resource allocation and waterfilling
  • Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM)
  • Multi-user communication: duplexing and multiple access
  • Multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) antennas systems
  • 5G and beyond 5G communication
  • 5G localization and sensing
  • Hardware impairments: phase noise, nonlinearities
  • Biological effects of electromagnetic radiation

Organisation

The course is comprised of approximately 15 lectures, 12 exercise sessions, 2 projects,  oral exam, and 6 quizzes (short written tests).

Literature

Andrea Goldsmith, Wireless Communications, Cambridge University Press, 2005, ISBN-13: 9780521837163, ISBN-10: 0521837162.

Examination including compulsory elements

The final grade (TH) is based on scores from projects, oral exam, quizzes, and a written exam.

The course examiner may assess individual students in other ways than what is stated above if there are special reasons for doing so, for example if a student has a decision from Chalmers on educational support due to disability.