Wireless and Mobile Communication Course

This course introduces students to the fundamental of wireless and mobile communication concepts. We will understand the architecture of cellular communication and the different elements involved in it. We will also understand the various undesirable effects on a communication network. We will study various methodologies to improve the received signal quality in wireless and mobile communication. Additionally, we will study all major modern and emerging cellular and wireless standards.

Course content

Overview and Evolution of Modern Wireless Communication

A quick introduction to modern wireless communication. We’ll discuss the basic communication system model, advantages of wireless, and its history.

Architecture of a General Cellular Communication System

Now that we’ve been introduced to some general concepts, we can dive right in to the architecture of a mobile/cellular communication network. We’ll see how a call is placed, learn about the different elements of the network and how they work in tandem to bring you your precious Whatsapp messages and Zoom calls.

What is GSM? A simple overview of the GSM Communication Standard

The GSM communication standard is one of the earliest communication standards that revolutionized cellular communication and helped connect the world at an exponential pace. It’s imperative to understand this system and the eventual upgrades that were/are being made to it. GSM set the foundation for newer, better technologies and thus it is an important topic in cellular communication. Here we will discuss everything about the GSM communication standard, its architecture, specifications, channels, handover types, services and its future.

Channel Interference in Cellular Communication and its types

Channel interferences are annoying. Users and engineers unite on the need for a noise-free, crystal clear conversation. However, there are some factors (either natural or by design) that inherently cause unrequited effects on communication channels. In this post, we have a brief overview of the different types of channel interferences in cellular communication, the causes of each type and some methods to reduce them.

Handoff and its types in wireless and mobile communication

As we saw in the post on the architecture of a mobile communication system, a handoff, otherwise known as a handover, is a technique employed to maintain connectivity even when a user moves from one location to another, across cells, which could pose problems as each cell operates at a different frequency. It is the […]

Multiple Access Schemes for wireless communication – A simple overview

Multiple Access Schemes are techniques that allow efficient usage of a wireless network by allowing multiple users to access communication channels simultaneously. In this post, we have a simple overview and explanation of Multiple Access Schemes like TDMA, FDMA, CDMA, SDMA, PDMA, BDMA, and NOMA, SCMA, OFDMA for 5G Cellular Communication.

GSM vs CDMA – Differences between CDMA and GSM

A brief overview and comparison of GSM vs CDMA. Two of the most popular cellular communication technologies that have shaped modern communication systems.

The Bluetooth Standard – A simple guide to the protocol for beginners

Continuing our study on wireless communication protocols in this free Wireless and Mobile Communication course, in this post, we will study Bluetooth. Let’s study the Bluetooth Standard from a beginner’s perspective. What is Bluetooth? Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard used for exchanging data between devices over short distances. Bluetooth uses short-wavelength ultra-high-frequency radio waves […]

More details

This is course is currently under development.

What will you learn in this course?

  • Basic concepts of cellular communication
  • Different methods of improving coverage and increasing the capacity of cellular systems.
  • Familiarity with multipath channels and fading effects.
  • Small scale and large scale propagation effects.
  • All the different multiple access techniques (TDMA/CDMA etc.)
  • Trunking and Grade of Service
  • Types of hand-off mechanism and spread spectrum techniques
  • All the characteristics of a wireless communication channel.
  • The architecture of modern and emerging cellular standards – 3G, 4G, 5G, CDMA, LTE, UMTS

What is the target of this course?

This course is part of the Communications and Signal processing track. We have designed this track and its constituent courses (like this one) to equip learners with the basic requirements of entry-level jobs or internships in the field of communication and signal processing.

Are there any pre-requisites for this course?

Analog and Digital Communication techniques.

I would like to suggest some topics to be covered, how can I do that?

You can visit the contact page linked in the footer of this webpage. Just select “Suggest Topics” from the subject dropdown menu of the form, mention the course and why you think your suggestion makes sense to be part of the curriculum.