WIRELESS COMMUNICATION PRINCIPLES - 2026/7

Module Overview

Students in this module will learn about the different key concepts and elements comprising a wireless communication system, e.g. signal, transmitter, receiver, channel, as well as understand the primary objectives of communication systems, i.e. reliability and efficiency. They will do so by engaging with the various types of teaching materials presented to them as well as participating in our MATLAB lab sessions where they will be given the opportunity to analyse and simulate radio propagation behaviours/coverage via a state-of-the-art software platform as well as to model and simulate a simple wireless communication system.

Module provider

Computer Science and Electronic Eng

Module Leader

HELIOT Fabien (CS & EE)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 7

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Fundamental theory of wireless communications: modelling point-to-point communications; elements of wireless communication systems, and crosstalk channel. Capacity theorems and outage behaviour of fundamental channel models will be introduced. Application use-cases which relate theory to practice.

Signals and digital wireless transceiver ¿ Signals and useful signal operations, time-frequency paradigm, Fourier transform, digital modulation/coding concept

Mobile Propagation Channel & Physical Impairments: Large-scale path loss. Small-scale fading (mobility and channel time variation, wideband channel and frequency selectivity, timing, channel diversity), noise temperature. Theory and practice of handling the impact of physical channels.

Channel Estimation ¿ basics of probability, methods based on training symbols or decisions (e.g. Least Squares estimation, Minimum Mean Square Error estimation);

Detection and reliability evaluation ¿ matched filter, coherent detection, probability of detection error, bit-error rate (BER)

Interferences and Competition: Four-terminal interference channel; Signal-to-interference noise ratio (SNR/SINR); Fundamentals of interference behaviour; Capacity theorem in competition environments.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Part time students, and students taking a second attempt, may be offered an alternative assignment to the group coursework assignment for practical purposes.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to: allow students to showcase that they have achieved all the intended learning outcomes. The exam will assess your understanding of the course¿s material (e.g. lecture/captured content, tutorial material) as well as your ability to apply the proper tools for solving analytical (numerical) and design problems. The exam will also assess your ability to reflect on communication system design choices. In complement to the exam, the coursework assignment will test your abilities at analysing typical radio propagation behaviours/coverage and/or evaluating the performance of simple digital communication systems.

The summative assessment components are listed as follows:

Coursework (addresses learning outcomes: 2, 3 and 4) Group Assignment 20
Examination (addresses learning outcomes: 1, 2, and 3) 2HR CLOSE-BOOK EXAM 80

Formative assessment:
Within the lectures, question and answer sessions will take place to constitute formative assessment.

Feedback:
For the module, students will receive formative assessment/feedback in the following ways.
· During lectures, by question and answer sessions
· During laboratory classes, via Q/A and lab feedbacks
· Via the marking of written reports
· Via assessed coursework
. Via ungraded tutorial sheet feedbacks

Module aims

• Developing your digital capabilities via the usage of MATLAB, a programming and numeric computing platform used by millions of engineers and scientists around the world to analyse data and create models/develop algorithms.
• Improving your employability by making you acquainted to the basic building blocks and concept of a communication system (signal, transceiver, channel, detection, estimation, capacity) and by teaching you how to model/simulate it in MATLAB.
• ¿ Nurturing your resourcefulness and resilience through scaffold teaching and group works. Group work is an important aspect of this module, especially during the MATLAB lab class and group assignment.
• ¿ Enhancing your global and cultural capabilities by encouraging you to exchange and work with your peers, especially through the MATLAB lab class and group assignment.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy
The learning and teaching strategy is designed to efficiently introduce students to the concepts, methodologies, and mathematical tools of the course and provide pointers that can further be used for deepening your learning experiences. Face-to-face lectures and practical lab sessions are the two main vehicles for delivering the strategy. Face-to-face lectures (including in-class problem/tutorial questions) are designed to provide the fundamental knowledge about the various topics of this module. Whereas practical lab sessions are designed to support and further your knowledge by implementing and evaluating models in MATLAB. Through this strategy, students will:
¿ deepen understanding of the fundamental theory of mobile communications
¿ acquire new competences for devising wireless communication systems and link-level resource planning.
¿ develop ability to work within the wireless communications industry and quickly perform a useful role in analysing, designing or managing mobile communication systems, or to enter an advanced research programme on this topic.
¿ develop resourcefulness and cultural capability via group work for your coursework assignment.
Overall, this strategy will help to improve the student¿s digital capabilities and employability.
In order to increase the effectiveness of teaching and learning experience, feedback on learning will be provided, through class discussions (Q&A), lab/tutorial questions, coursework evaluation, and office hours. Additional learning material can also be found on SurreyLearn to further help with acquiring a deep understanding of the module content.

Learning and teaching methods include the following.

Lectures: face to face lecturing
Laboratories: face to face computer-based lab
Seminars: face to face with technical discussions

Tutorials: in-class tutorial questions and/or online tutorial sheets

Capture contents: pre-recorded videos of lecture contents

Independent learning: this includes group assignment and other independent learning activity (e.g. tutorial sheet).
Office hours: walk-in support session (one hour every week)

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: EEEM083

Other information

The school of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering is committed to developing graduates with strengths in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability, and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module is designed to allow students to develop knowledge, skills, and capabilities in the following areas: Digital Capabilities: Through this module, you will learn to use Matlab for modeling and simulating a simplified wireless communication system in order to understand some of the real-life engineering constraints arising when designing such a system. You will also be introduced to MATLAB SiteViewer 3D Radio Coverage Analyser, which is the state-of-the-art software platform for simulating and analysing radio propagation behaviours and radio coverage. This is unique digital capability students can develop from the University of Surrey as so far; no other universities in the world are offering this opportunity. In addition, you will learn to utilise the Virtual Learning Environment @ Surrey (SurreyLearn) and other digital tools including MS-Teams Online Collaborative writing, Poll Everywhere. Employability: This module has a good combination of theory and practice. It starts from fundamental theory of mobile communications (such as Shannon theory and mobile propagation channels) and gradually moves to relatively advanced topics (such as advanced radio resource management, spectral and energy efficiencies). Through learning of those theoretical parts, students will lay a solid foundation for their future academic development such as entering PhD programme or further academic career development. Moreover, through case studies and group coursework, students will develop strong ability and skills to solve real-world problems in the wireless domain using the theory they have learned from this module. Students will also develop skills of using state-of-the-art software platform (SiteViewer) to solve practical problems that wireless industry is currently facing. All of these will equip our students very competitive capabilities of handling practical wireless problems. Global and Cultural Capabilities: this module is delivered in an interactive and collaborative way, in a cohort that commonly represents a wealth of nationalities and backgrounds. Students are encouraged to engage with, and learn from, diverse perspectives through in-class group learning and group coursework activity. Sustainability: through seminars and tutorials, students will learn how to optimally use radio resources (spectrum and energy) in mobile networks with guaranteed capacity and radio coverage. Through coursework activities, students will learn the sustainable development of future mobile networks. Resourcefulness and Resilience: this module provides rich learning resources which are made available and accessible through SurreyLearn. Those resources include youtube videos on state-of-the-art or bluesky wireless technology, TED talks, MIT online lectures. SurreyLearn also provided pre-recorded lectures, videos of past tutorials and seminars, past exam papers, case study materials. Moreover, students can have a taste of the world¿s largest 4G /5G test network at the University of Surrey, Stag Hill Campus.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2026/7 academic year.