ECE 5377/7377

Course Description:
This course exposes students to a wide variety of real-world experiences in wireless communications and networking using FPGAs equipped with embedded microprocessors. Basic wireless concepts of scheduled and random access as well as modulation and power control will be studied via labs that enable implementation of cellular and 802.11-based wireless protocols such as TDMA, Aloha, CSMA, and CSMA/CA. Broader topics that range from embedded programming, interrupt-driven operation, and FPGA-based design will also be covered in some depth. In a course project, student teams will design novel wireless protocols and carry out experiments to measure the performance.

Prerequisites:
EE 3360 or equivalent or permission of the instructor. Proficiency in programming is required for projects and labs.

Distinction for 7000-level students:
Students enrolled in ECE 7377 will complete a more research-oriented course project. A research project requires understanding relevant existing work, identifying a technical need, formulating a problem, designing a solution, and experimentally evaluating that solution.

Lectures, Labs, and Project Deadlines

Grading:

You may discuss lab assignments with classmates, but all submitted solutions must be original and individually prepared unless a group submission is explicitly requested. Late lab assignments, readiness quizzes, and project deliverables will be penalized at 15% of the full credit per day up to a maximum of 4 days, after which no late work will be accepted unless prior arrangements have been made.

Optional Engineering Outreach Challenge:
Students may produce a 60 to 120 second public video explaining a project or experiment from the course. The goal is to communicate wireless engineering concepts to a broad audience and promote public understanding of science and engineering. Videos may be posted on a public platform such as LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, X, or another public platform to be submitted via Canvas by the final project due date. Technical accuracy and clarity of communication are more important than production quality or view count. Upon satisfactory completion, students may choose either to drop their lowest Readiness Quiz grade or receive +5 points on the semester project.

Required Textbook:
Robert W. Heath Jr., Introduction to Wireless Digital Communication: A Signal Processing Perspective, 1st Edition.

Supplemental Readings:
Selected readings may be assigned from modern wireless communications, MIMO, SDR, 5G/Wi-Fi standards, and AI-assisted wireless systems.

Topics:

• Wireless system design and experimental methodology
• Software-defined radio, GNU Radio, UHD, and Ettus USRP N310 experimentation
• Information theory, capacity, and wireless standards
• Signals, sampling, FFTs, filtering, and power spectral density
• Digital modulation, detection, and bit error rate
• Wireless channels, path loss, fading, and delay spread
• Synchronization, channel estimation, equalization, and OFDM
• Diversity, beamforming, spatial multiplexing, and MIMO
• Selected modern wireless systems and optional AI-assisted wireless signal processing examples

Honor Code:
The SMU Honor Code will be strictly enforced.

Disability Accommodations:
Students needing academic accommodations for a disability must first register with Disability Accommodations & Success Strategies (DASS). Students can call 214-768-1470 or visit https://www.smu.edu/Provost/SASP/DASS to begin the process. Once approved and registered, students will submit a DASS Accommodation Letter to faculty through DASS Link and then communicate directly with the instructor to make appropriate arrangements. Accommodations are not retroactive and require advance notice to implement.

Religious Observance:
Religiously observant students wishing to be absent on holidays that require missing class should notify the instructor in writing at the beginning of the semester and discuss acceptable ways of making up any missed work in advance.

Excused Absences for University Extracurricular Activities:
Students participating in an officially sanctioned, scheduled University extracurricular activity should be given the opportunity to make up class assignments or other graded assignments missed as a result of participation. It is the responsibility of the student to make arrangements with the instructor before any missed scheduled assignment.

Students enrolled in ECE 5377 will be evaluated on the following ABET Learning Outcomes:
ABET 3 (Communicate).

Students enrolled in ECE 7377 will be evaluated on the following SACS Learning Outcomes:
SACS 1 (Use Technique) and 4 (Content and Delivery).