Lecturer: Lorenzo Favalli  

Course name: Radiocommunication Systems
Course code: 504246
Degree course: Ingegneria Elettronica
Disciplinary field of science: ING-INF/03
The course relates to:
University credits: ECTS 6
Course website: n.d.

Specific course objectives

Target of the course i sto provide students with knowledge of the concepts and techniques behind modern radio communication systems. Current standards will be outlined in their evolutionary path. Both infrastructur based and distributed/ad hoc systems will be presented. At the end of the course, the students shall be able to interpret the main design choices and elements to understand system performances in view of channel, network and service characteristics.

Course programme

Characterization of transmission environment and basic techniques
Propagation and channel characterization. Fading, multipath, Doppler effect. Statistical characterization and modeling of wireless channels. Effect on performance. Multiplexing techniques and achievable capacity. Diversity in time, frequency, space. OFDM, MIMO, Hybrid ARQ.

Mobile radio systems based on centralized infrastructure.
The GSM standard as trailing example (network structure, system and sub-systems definition. Pprotocol structure, voice coding, signaling, modulation, radio interface structure. The US standard IS-95. GSM phase 2 and 2+, GPRS, EDGE. UMTS: system structure and functional blocks. Structure of the UTRAN access network. The core network and its evolution. IMS. HSPA. LTE

Systems for local and metropolitan access.
Architecture of the WiMax standard. Wireless Local Area Networks, the 802.11 standards. Personal Area Networks and the 802.14 standards (Bluetooth, ZigBee, UltraWideband). Specific applications and systems: vehicular networks, sensor networks, cognitive networks. Localization.

Broadcasting systems
Satellite transmission. Channel characterization ancd system components. Terrestrial systems: the DVB standard.

Course entry requirements

Basic knowledge of statistics and signal theory, modulation and coding techniques, communication systems and protocols.

Course structure and teaching

Lectures (hours/year in lecture theatre): 45
Practical class (hours/year in lecture theatre): 0
Practicals / Workshops (hours/year in lecture theatre): 0

Suggested reading materials

O. Bertazioli, L. Favalli. GSM/GPRS. Hoepli.

W. Stallings. Wireless Communications and Networks. Pearson-Prentice Hall.

B. H. Walke. Mobile Radio Networks: Networking and Protocols. John Wiley & Sons.

Testing and exams

Final exam consists in a colloquium