COS-463 Wireless Networks (Spring 2018)

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Latest Announcements

2/5: Start of Spring Semester

Spring classes begin

2/2: Lab Assignment 1 Posted

Lab Assignment 1 (Building a Simple Spectrum Analyzer using the HackRF Software-Defined Radio) posted on the Assignments page.

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Overview

Over the past one and a half decades, we have seen a polar shift in the way we access the Internet, our usage patterns moving from tethered workstations, to laptops, then to a variety of smaller mobile devices. Furthermore, in the next decade, we are headed on a trajectory to bring the internet to many millions of sensors and embedded computational devices. A wireless first or last hop figures prominently into the needs of each such device.

But in contrast with wired networks, wireless networks must cope with several challenges stemming from several fundamental differences between radio links and wired links:

1. Over a certain link, portions of a packet may be received correctly, while the remaining portions may contain bit errors. Background noise, reflections, and obstructions in the physical space between sender and receiver impact the delivery of individual bits proabilistically.
2. Concurrent transmissions from different nearby senders result in interference between nearby wireless links that is difficult to model or predict.
3. At certain wireless frequencies, transmissions are inherently omnidirectional (broadcast), and may reach or affect unintended receivers.

COS-463 is an undergraduate-level class that presents students a broad view of the entire wireless networking stack, including the physical layer, presented in a way that is accessible for students with solely a computer systems and networking background. Through laboratory-based programming exercises in C++, Python, and Matlab in a lab environment equipped with many software-defined radios operating in proximity, students will apply the understanding they gain to build real wireless networks of their own.

Meeting Times and Places

• Lecture time: Tuesday, Thursday 11:00-12:20 PM.
• Location: Green Hall, Room 0-S-6.
• Precept times: Friday 10:00-10:50 AM, 1:30-2:20 PM.
• Location: 87 Prospect Street, Garden Level, Room 065.

Requirements/Grading

• Midterm exam: 20%
• Final exam: 30%
• Programming assignments: 40%
• Precept participation: 10%

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Course Staff

Name	Email	Office	Telephone	Office Hours
Kyle Jamieson	kylej	CS 305	258-7477	After Thurs lecture or by appointment.
Longfei Shangguan	longfeis	CS 418b	TBA	By appointment.
Allen Welkie	awelkie	CS 418b	TBA	By appointment.