PACE UNIVERSITY

 

SCHOOL OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS (CSIS)

 

 

DEPARTMENT:

 

Computer Science

 

SUBJECT CODE/COURSE TITLE:

 

CS 637/Wireless Communications

 

CLASS HOURS:

 

3 Hours per Week

 

CREDITS:

 

3

 

PREREQUISTES:

 

CS 507, CS 633 or equivalents

 

TEXTBOOKS:

 

W. Stallings, Wireless Communications and Networks, Prentice Hall, 1999.

 

D. Agrawal and Q. Zeng, Introduction to Wireless and Mobile Systems, Thomson—Brooks/Cole, 2003.

 

REFERENCES:

 

D. Goodman, Wireless Personal Communications Systems, Addison-Wesley, 1997.

 

E. Wesel, Wireless Multimedia Communications, Addison-Wesley, 1997.

 

V. Garg and J. Wilkes, Wireless and Personal Communications Systems, Prentice Hall, 1996

 

SEMESTER:

 

Spring 2004

 

PREPARER:

 

Dr. A. Joseph

 

 

 

Course Description: This course examines the fundamental concepts of wireless transmission and the operation of current wireless systems and networks.  Coverage of wireless transmission includes: radio propagation, basic antenna operation, and signal impairments (interference, attenuation, reflection, fading, and multipath waves) -- providing a foundation for studying various wireless systems.  Spread spectrum, cellular, and multiple-access (FDMA, TDMA, CDMA and SDMA) methods are also covered, along with privacy and security issues in wireless systems. Examples of wireless systems covered include: cellular telephone and data networks, wireless LANs, and satellite systems.

 

Students are to collaborate outside of the classroom to research current and emerging technologies in wireless communications and other related topics unless otherwise informed.  However, each assignment submitted must reflect some level of each student individuality and uniqueness.

 

 

 

PROFESSOR’S PROFILE

 

 

Professor:

 

A. Joseph

Office:

 

163 William St., 2 floor, Room 231

Telephone:

 

212 346 1492

Email:

 

Ajoseph2@pace.edu

Office Hours:

 

Tuesday 12:00pm-2:00pm

Thursday 11:00pm-2:00pm

 

 

COURSE PROFILE

 

EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT

 

Grading Policy

 

Final Examination:

 

45%

Midterm Examination:

 

30% (No make up)

Class/Group Participation:

 

5%

Homework:

 

5%

Project/Report:

 

15% (Late project will be penalized 5 points per day for 5 days.)

Extra credit assignment (optional)

Note: Only applies to students who are otherwise fulfilling all of the other course requirements

 

5% (Due 12 week of class)

 

Note: If a student final examination grade is greater than midterm, the student midterm examination grade will assume the percentage value obtained on the final examination.

 

Final grade Determination

 

Above 92%
 
A

90% -- 92%

 

A-

85% -- 89%

 

B+

80% -- 84%

 

B

73% -- 79%

 

B-

70% --72%

 

C+

65% -- 69%

 

C

Below 65

 

F

 

Note: Grade is computed to the nearest whole number.

 

 

Course objectives for students:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course Section

Midterm exam date

Final exam date

CS 637/CRN 54216

March 2, 2004

May 11, 2004

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TOPICS COVERED

 

Week #

Topics

Assignments

1-2

Radio Propagation: antennas; propagation characteristics and mechanisms; noise; path loss; fading; multipath waves; and co-channel and adjacent channel interference.

 

 

 

 

3-4

Equalization and Diversity: equalization – linear and nonlinear Equalizers, and algorithms; diversity – spatial, frequency, time and polarization; and Nyquist criterion and pulse shaping filters.

 

 

 

 

4-5

Spread Spectrum Systems: spreading sequences; direct sequence; frequency hopping; synchronization; code division multiple access (CDMA); and applications.

 

 

 

 

6

Access Methods: frequency division multiple access (FDMA); time division multiple access (TDMA); spread spectrum multiple access (SSDM); space division multiple access (SDMA); and packet radio.

 

 

 

 

7

Midterm Examination

 

 

 

 

8

Satellite: operation, parameters, configurations, capacity allocations, global positioning system (GPS).

 

 

 

 

9

Cellular systems: frequency reuse; cell geometry; channel assignment; handoffs; registration; terminal authentication; interference and system capacity; and capacity improvement.

 

 

 

 

10-11

 

Networking: merging wireless networks and public switched telephone network (PSTN); traffic routing; data services; integrated services digital network (ISDN); Signaling System No. 7 (SS7); personal communication networks/services (PCN/PCS); and resource allocation in multimedia networks

 

 

 

 

11-12

Mobile IP and LANs: Internet and application protocols; and LAN requirements, standard, and technologies;

 

 

 

 

13

Security Issues: security principles; vulnerabilities; attack; protection; and privacy.

 

 

 

 

14

Final Examination.

 

 

 

 

 

Note 1: This course is structured around small collaborative groups in a cooperative learning environment.  Students are encouraged to work together in their respective groups to form effective and productive teams that share the learning experience within the context of the course, help each other with learning difficulties, spend time to get to know each other, and spend time each week to discuss and help one another with the course work (content and assignments).  Each group member is responsible for the completion and submission of each assignment.  Each group member will be individually graded. 

 

Note 2: During the first class session, student background information will be collected for the purpose of forming the groups and an assessment test will be given to determine students’ knowledge of the subject.

 

Group project: Students in small groups of two to four will participate in a project or research and prepare a report that may involves the use or knowledgeable understanding of a low level or a high-level programming language.  In this project, student groups (or students) may write a program to determine the solution of a wireless communications problem, and then demonstrate the relative merit compared to existing solutions.  Some solutions to problems may be purely theoretical.  Assignment of grade to individual students for a group project will be based upon the particular student involvement in the following elements: research, problem solution, programming, report writing, proofreading and correction of programming codes and written report, and combinations of the above.

 

Web support: This course is supported with most or all of the following Blackboard postings: lesson questions, lessons (PowerPoint), instructions and guidelines pertaining to the course, computer architecture and related news, group and class discussions boards, email correspondence about the course, homework solutions, examination grades, and miscellaneous course related activities and information.

 

Supplementary materials: Handouts in class or web postings of current events and issues affecting computer architecture.  Some books that may be helpful for the course will be posted on Blackboard.

 

In class group activity and participation: Students are recommended to bring to class current newsworthy event in computer organization/architecture and related issues to share with the class.  Students will inform the class of the news event and its significance to computing.  Devote 15-20 minutes to this activity.

 

The collaborative groups are designed to function outside of the classroom.  The collaborative group activity will be reinforced inside the class during lesson.  Devote 30-45 minutes of each class period to collaborative group activities.

 

Note: The course work of individuals who are not included in any group will be computed differently, as shown in parentheses, in the graded policy.

 

 

The following are few excerpts about collaborative learning are from research documents:

 

·         In the university environment, educational success and social adjustments  depend primarily on the availability and effectiveness of developmental academic support systems.

 

·         Most organized learning occurs in some kind of group  group characteristics and group processes significantly contribute to success or failure in the classroom and directly effect the quality and quantity of learning within the group.

 

·         Group work invariably produces tensions that are normally absent, unnoticed, or suppressed in traditional classes.  Students bring with them a variety of personality types, cognitive styles, expectations about their own role in the classroom and their relationship to the teacher, peers, and the subject matter of the course.

 

·         Collaborative learning involves both management and decision-making skills to choose among competing needs.  The problems encountered with collaboration have management, political, competence, and ethical dimensions

 

·         The two key underlying principles of the collaborative pedagogy are that active student involvement is a more powerful learning tool than the passive attendance and that students working in groups can make for more effective learning than students acting alone.   The Favorable outcomes of collaborative learning include greater conceptual understanding, a heightened ability to apply concepts, and improved attendance.  Moreover, students become responsible for their own learning is likely to increase their skills for coping with ambiguity, uncertainty, and continuous change, all of which are characteristics of contemporary organizations.

 

 

Who creates a new activity in the face of risk and uncertainty for the purpose of achieving success and growth by identifying opportunities and putting together the required resources to benefit from them?

 

Creativity is the ability to develop new ideas and to discover new ways to of looking at problems and opportunities

 

Innovation is the ability to apply creative solutions to those problems and opportunities to enhance or to enrich people’s lives.

 

Each group may be viewed as small business that is seeking creative and innovative ways to maximize its product, academic outcome or average group grade.  A satisfactory product is the group average grade of 85%.  Groups getting an average grade of above 85% are viewed as profitable enterprises.