ECE 3656, Mobile and Wireless Networking

Spring 2002

The class meets Monday and Wednesday from 4:00pm to 5:40pm in room RY 159

Instructor:

        Stefano Basagni
        Office: Dana 312
        Office hours: Wednesday, from 2:00pm to 3:50pm
        Telephone: 617 373 3061
        E-mail: basagni@ece.neu.edu

Teaching Assistant:

        Liang Yan
        Office: Dana 418
        Office hours: Appt.
        Telephone: 617 373 4029
        E-mail: lyan@ece.neu.edu


Textbook: 1. Wireless and Mobile Network Architectures, Yi-Bing Lin and Imrich Chlamtac, John Wiley and Sons, 2001. 2. Notes from the instructor.


Course Objectives: To introduce to the fundamental techniques and protocols of the two main wireless networks architectures, namely cellular networks (second generation and emerging third generation systems) and ad hoc networks. The course examines the characterizing aspects of these wireless architectures and introduces to related problems and solutions.


Topics: Mobile Ad Hoc Networks: MAC layer solutions, multipoint communication protocols (routing, multicast, broadcast), clustering protocols. Enabling Technologies: Bluetooth and IEEE 802.11. Cellular systems: mobility management and signaling within mobile networks, common air interfaces. IS-41, GSM and wireless data networking (CDPD).


Evaluation: There will be homework, one project and one final exam.

Project: Performance evaluation of network layer protocols for all mobile networks (ad hoc networks). You will be required to write a simulator for evaluating the performance of protocols for setting up or implementing multipoint communication in ad hoc networks. The project will span the whole term and it is due the week prior final week.

Grades: Homework: 20%. Midterm: 40%. Final exam: 40%.

Final examination policy: All examinations are open book and notes. All devices with communication capabilities, including cell phones and pagers, must be turned off during the examination. Stand-alone calculators may be used during the examination (do not use your cell phone calculator). Laptops or palmtops are not permitted.


Student Responsibilities: Homework are due in class on the specified date. Turn in what is completed by the deadline for partial credits. No late submission will be accepted. ("No shows" will obtain 0 points.) If k is the total number of homework assigned, at least h >= k/2 of the homework have to be turned in for passing the class with more than a B.

Only homework returned on a letter-size envelope will be accepted. Take care of print on the envelope the class name (ECE 1320) and your name.

All submissions must be your own work. Identical, or semi-identical assignments will not be accepted.

Class attendance is responsibility of each individual. If a student should elect not to attend a class, s/he is responsible for any handouts, announcements, reading material and content of missed lecture.

Scholastic dishonesty (e.g., cheating, plagiarism, collusion, record falsification, etc.) will be punished according to NU policies and standards.


Download the syllabus in Portable Document Format (PDF)( ).


CLASSES

1. Mon March 25 2002: Introduction to ECE 3656. Wireless Medium Access Control.
Assignments: Read till page ix of the handout distributed in class.

2. Wed March 27 2002: Fundamental wireless MAC protocols.
Homework 1: Download homework 1. Homework are due in class on Mon April 8 2002. For the homework you can use the following C++ class definition files: rstream.h and rstream.cpp. A possible solution to homework 1 can be downloaded here. (To be compiled and executed on a Linux machine.)

3. Mon April 1 2002: Wireless MAC for ad hoc networks: A taxonomy.
Assignments: Read from page xi to page xvi of the handout distributed in class.

4. Wed April 3 2002: Wireless MAC for ad hoc networks: Allocation protocols.
Assignments: Read from page xvi to page xix of the handout distributed in class.

5. Mon April 8 2002: Ad hoc routing: Proactive, reactive and geographically-enabled solutions.
Assignments: Read the handout distributed in class.
Homework 2: Download homework 2. Homework are due in class on Mon April 15 2002.

6. Wed April 10 2002: Ad hoc clustering: A platform for multipoint communication.
Assignments: Read the handout distributed in class.

7. Mon April 15 2002: Ad hoc clustering: Description of simple clustering algorithms.

8. Wed April 17 2002: Basics of statistics: How to obtain statistical accuracy with computer simulations.
Homework 3: Download homework 3. Homework are due in class on Mon April 29 2002.

9. Mon April 22 2002: Bluetooth 101.
Assignments: Read the handout distributed in class.

10. Wed April 24 2002: Bluetooth: Scatternet formation.
Assignments: Read the handout distributed in class.

11. Mon April 29 2002: Bluetooth: Device discovery.
Assignments: Read the handout distributed in class.

12. Wed May 1 2002: Bluetooth: Piconet formation and interconnection.
Homework 4: Download homework 4. Homework are due in class on Mon May 13 2002.
PROJECT: Download the project. The project is due in class on Wed May 29 2002.

13. Mon May 6 2002: IEEE 802.11 101 (courtesy of Professor Bruce McDonald).

14. Wed May 8 2002: IEEE 802.11, ad hoc mode (courtesy of Professor Bruce McDonald).

15. Mon May 13 2002: Personal Communication Systems (PCS) 101.
Assignments: Read chapter 1 of the textbook.

16. Wed May 15 2002: PCS, the architecture and the issues.
Assignments: Read chapter 1 of the textbook.

17. Mon May 20 2002: Mobility management: Handoff and Roaming.
Assignments: Read chapter 2 of the textbook.

18. Wed May 22 2002: GSM, system overview.
Assignments: Read chapter 9 of the textbook.

19. Wed May 29 2002: Turning in the project. A five to ten minutes presentation to the class and to the TA (the class will be supervised by the TA).

20. Mon June 3 2002: FINAL. From 1:30pm to 4:40pm, in RY 159. The final will be on everything that the instructor covered in class. The finals are graded already. They can be seen by stopping by the instructor's office.

Please, report typos, errors and decent comments to basagni@ece.neu.edu