Hands-on undergraduate course based on software-defined radio and Matlab/Simulink

Abstract

Recent breakthroughs lowering the costs of software-defined radio devices have made them very attractive for teaching wireless communication. This paper provides an example of an undergraduate course that incorporates the use of low-cost software-defined radio and Matlab/Simulink software to illustrate the basic principles of practical digital communication systems. This course targets senior level undergraduate electrical engineering students with a background in the fields of communication and signal processing. The course comprises two parts: software-defined radio introductory studies and implementation of a basic digital modem. The second part of this course may also be taught as project-based learning or in a hackathon-style event. Finally, a list of additional project-based learning/hackathon projects is provided.

Keywords

Software-defined radio undergraduate curriculum hackathon Matlab Simulink

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