Basic course on wireless communications

In this course, the focus is on the basic techniques of the radio interface in all wireless systems and networks, on top of which, e.g., the Internet network protocols are built. Upon completing the course, the student can explain and compare the structures, principles, and possible applications of different wireless communication systems.

Course contents

• Basic elements of wireless communications
• Properties and modeling of the radio channel
• Cellular network concept
• Principles of wireless communication systems
• Radio resource management basics
• Future wireless communications
• Basics of wireless positioning

Learning outcomes

Upon completing the course, the student should be able to:

• explain the general principles how the different phenomena in mobile radio channels have to be taken into consideration in the design of a reliable radio communication link.
• compute the path loss encountered in wireless transmission, using basic path loss models.
• explain the whole transmission chain in a wireless communication or navigation system.
• describe the significance of different transmitter and receiver signal processing modules (coding, modulation, channel equalisation,…) on the performance of a radio link.
• describe the general principles of sharing the channel in duplex and multiuser radio communications, as well as basic operation of the most common medium access (MAC) protocols.
• describe the general structure and main elements and functionalities of a cellular mobile communication system, as well as analyse the commonalities and differences in GSM, UMTS/HSPA, LTE, 5G and beyond 5G networks.
• compute the load and capacity of basic cellular network configurations.
• explain the general principles how it is possible to extract useful information from radio signals for positioning applications.
• describe the concepts of Internet of Things, Machine-to-Machine Communications, and tactile Internet.

Course material

Lecture recordings as well as other materials like lecture notes, example problems etc. available on the course platform.

Completion methods

The course contains scheduled lectures and/or other learning events, however, the course can also be studied in self-studying manner.

More information in the Tampere University’s study guide.

You can get a digital badge after completing this course.

Communications Engineering, langaton tietoliikenne, 5G, 6G, cellular network, mobile network, mobiiliverkko, positioning, GPS, GNSS, radio network, radioverkko, DVB, WLAN/WiFi, IoT