This course introduces fundamental concepts of wireless networks. The course will combine lectures with a set of assignments in which students will run experiment on wireless networks. The lectures will provide an introduction to the wireless physical layer (accessible for students with mostly a computer systems background), discuss commonly used wireless MAC mechanisms, give an wireless data communication standards, and review a number of more advanced topics. Specifically, we will cover the following topics:
The course will not only address the technical aspects of wireless networking, but will also contribute to the broad education necessary to understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context.
All information regarding this course will be posted on this web page so please check the page regularly. We will also make announcements in class. This course does not use Blackboard.
Prerequisites: 18-345 and 15-213 (or 15-441 as a substitute); 18-396; and 36-217 (36-225 or 36-325 as substitutes). Graduate students can use equivalent courses taken at another institutions. C/C++ and/or Java programming skills are also needed for the project. We have created a reading list who need to build up their networking background.
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Prof. Peter Steenkiste
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Prof. Hedda Schmidtke
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Hugo Conceição
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Miray Kas
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Kathy McNiff
E-mail: kmm AT cs.cmu.edu
Office: Gates 9213
The textbook for the course is "Wireless Communications and Networks", William Stallings, Prentice Hall, second edition, 2005. It does not cover all the course material, but it is the "best fit".
Another good book is "Wireless Communications & Networking", Vijay Garg, Morgan Kaufmann, June 2007. It is has good coverage of cellular technologies and it is more up to date than Stallings' book since it appeared more recently. However, its coverage of WiFi and PAN technologies is more limited.
Lectures will be held Monday and Wednesday in 2:30-4:20PM, in DH 2105. Recitations will be held on Friday 3:30-5:00 in WEH 5403.
The lecture schedule listed below is tentative. It will be updated as the semester progresses.
Four homeworks will be assigned throughout the course. Homeworks must be handed in (hardcopy) during class, or with the course secretary before class (by 2:30pm) by the due date. Homeworks cannot be submitted electronically through e-mail or blackboard. Late homeworks will be assessed a 30% penalty. No homeworks will be accepted more than one day late.
The homework schedule below is for Spring 2012.
| Homeworks | Description | Out | Due | Solution |
| HW 1 | Physical layer | Monday, Jan 30 | Wednesday, Feb 8, class time | HW1 Solutions |
| HW 2 | MAC | Tuesday, Feb 14 | Thursday, Feb 23 | HW2 Solutions |
| HW 3 | Cellular and GPS | Friday, March 23 | Monday, April 2nd, class time | HW3 Solutions |
| HW 4 | Survey Talks | Monday, Apr 16 | Monday, Apr 23, class time | HW4 Solutions |
The course will also include a midterm and a final. The midterm will be on Wednesday, February 29, during class time - the grade distribution for the midterm can be found here. It is closed book and will cover the material in lectures 1-14.
The solutions for the midterm can be found here.
The course includes a hands-on project in the second half of the semester. Projects will be executed by small teams of students. More details on the projects can be found here and a list of example can be found here.
The educational objectives of the course project include the ability to apply knowledge of mathematics, science, and engineering; to design and conduct experiments, as well as to analyze and interpret data; to design a system, component, or process to meet desired needs within real-world constraints; the ability to function on multi-disciplinary teams; and to identify, formulate, and solve engineering problems. The projects will also help clarify some aspects of professional behavior.
The project deadlines are summarized below for your convenience:
| Milestone | Comment | |
| Wed, Feb 1 | Project proposal | |
| Fr, Feb 17 | Project design | |
| Th, Mar 8 | Checkpoint 1 | |
| Mon, Apr 9 | Checkpoint 2 | |
| Wed, May 2 | Final presentation | Class room |
About one quarter of the course will be dedicated to to more advanced topics. This part of the course will consist of presentations by both the instructors and by the students. The instructors will present background material and small teams of students will then present in depth surveys of the ongoing work in that area. Each student will be involved in preparing and presenting one survey. Topics will include ad hoc and mesh networks, opportunistic reception and network coding, network planning and management, verhicular networks, and disruption tolerant networks. More details on the survey assignment, including list of topics, can be found in the Survey Handout. That page also includes a list of papers for each topic. The schedule for the student talks can be found on the Survey Team Assignments page.
The survey deadlines are summarized below for your convenience:
| Milestone | Comment | |
| Wed, Feb 1 | Submit team information | 2 people per team |
| Mon, Feb 6 | List of topic due | |
| Mon, Feb 10 | Instructors announce topics | Web page |
| February - April | In class presentations | Schedule on web page |
| 7 days before presentation | Submit draft slides to instructors | Earlier is always better |
The survey lectures are part of the course, and the material presented in the presentations will be covered in the homeworks and final. Specifically, the slides used in the survey presentation and one of the papers on the reading list, should be studied to prepare for the final. Both the slides and the selected paper can be found in the table with the course schedule.
The education goals for the survey presentations include a recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in life-long learning; and an ability to communicate effectively.Students at Carnegie Mellon are engaged in preparation for professional activity of the highest standards. Each profession constrains its members with both ethical responsibilities and disciplinary limits. To assure the validity of the learning experience a university establishes clear standards for student work, as described in the document on Cheating and Plagiarism. These rules will be strictly enforced in this course.
If you drop the course it is your responsibility to notify the instructor and your team member(s) in your project and survey team as soon as possible. Losing a team member is very disruptive to the rest of the team, so it is important that we can adjust the team as quickly as possible.
Grades will be determined based on homeworks (10%), project (30%), survey talk (10%), and 2 exams (20% midterm and 30% final).