EECE 640L – Wireless Communications Laboratory

Catalog description:
A laboratory course that covers the following topics: basics of radio network planning and optimization, radio
network planning for the GSM cellular system, radio network planning for the UMTS cellular system, GSM-
UMTS co-existence and co-citing, radio network planning for the WiMAX broadband system, indoor GSM drive
testing measurements and analysis, outdoor GSM drive testing measurements and analysis, UMTS drive testing
measurements and analysis, and measurement-based wireless channel modeling.

Credit hours: 1 credit

Required or elective: Elective for ECE and CCE students

Prerequisites: By course: EECE 640, By topic: Fundamentals of wireless communications.

Textbook(s) and/or required materials:

None.

References:
− Jukka Lempiainen and Matti Manninen, UMTS Radio Network Planning, Optimization and QoS Management,
2003.
− Ajay R. Mishra, Fundamentals of Cellular Network Planning and Optimization: 2G/2.5G/3G... Evolution to
4G, 2004.
− Jaana Laiho, Achim Wacker, and Tomas Novosad, Radio Network Planning and Optimization for UMTS, 2nd
edition, 2005.

Computer usage: Specialized telecommunications software tools

Course Objectives

The objective of the wireless communications lab course is to introduce ECE students to the field of radio network
planning and optimization. It would give them hands-on experience through a set of experiments using state-of-
the-art radio network planning tools and drive testing equipment and software. It would also give them an
understanding of practical wireless communication systems such as GSM/GPRS/EDGE, UMTS, and WiMAX.
The lab consists of ten experiments and each experiment consists of pre-lab preparation, lab exercises, and a post-
lab report.

Course Topics
No. Lab experiments 75 min. lectures
1 Link Budget Analysis and Network Dimensioning: Part I 1
2 Link Budget Analysis and Network Dimensioning: Part II 1
3 GSM Radio Network Planning: Part I 1
4 GSM Radio Network Planning: Part II 1
5 UMTS Radio Network Planning 1
6 Radio Network Planning for a 2G/3G Seamless Network 1
7 WiMAX Radio Network Planning: Part I 1
8 WiMAX Radio Network Planning: Part II 1
9 GSM Drive Testing 1
10 UMTS Drive Testing 1
Course Learning Outcomes
Correlates to program outcomes*
At the end of the course, students should be able to:
H M L
Understand the basic principles of radio network planning and
a, o
optimization
Understand the basic design and operation of the following
j, o
wireless technologies: GSM, WCDMA, and WiMAX
Perform link budget analysis and network dimensioning for GSM
a, b, k, o c, e
and WCDMA cellular networks
Use professional radio network planning tools such as TEMS
j, k, o
CellPlanner (GSM, WCDMA) and ATDI (WiMAX)
Perform radio network planning and capacity/coverage analysis
a, b, k, o c
for GSM networks
Perform radio network planning and capacity/coverage analysis
a, b, k, o c, e
for WCDMA networks
Understand the importance and basics of GSM/UMTS co-siting
j, o h
and co-existence
Perform radio network planning and capacity/coverage analysis a, b, c, k,
e
for GSM/UMTS seamless networks with co-siting o
Perform radio network planning and capacity/coverage analysis
a, b, k, o c, e
for WiMAX networks
Understand the importance of drive testing for network
j, o
optimization
Analyze real GSM drive testing log files a, b, k, o
Analyze real UMTS drive testing log files a, b, k, o
* H: High correlation, M: Medium correlation, L: Low correlation

Class/laboratory schedule: One 60-minute overview lecture per week, Three hours of lab work per week

Evaluation methods
1. Lab reports 65%
2. Final exam 25%
3. Participation and field visits 10%

Professional component
Engineering topics: 100%
General education: 0%
Mathematics and basic sciences: 0%

Person(s) who prepared this description and date of preparation

Zaher Dawy in January 2007

Date of last revision

April 2009