Education
In addition to our research contributions, one of the primary missions of the Wireless Lab at UCLA is to educate and train wireless engineers. We are invested in equipping students with the technical background and skills to help them be successful in the classroom, in research, and in the workplace. We accomplish this in multiple ways: by teaching courses at UCLA, by hosting workshops, through outreach, and through research collaboration.
Teaching
Prof. Ian Roberts regularly teaches the following three courses on communications at UCLA:
- ECE 132A Introduction to Communication Systems. This course combines foundational concepts in linear systems/signals, digital signal processing, and probability to establish the elegant techniques by which we communicate information and analyze the performance of such techniques. Students use software-defined radios (SDRs) to implement concepts learned in lecture through regular lab assignments.
- ECE 230B Digital Communication Systems. This course introduces students to the fundamental theory and techniques by which we communicate digital information. An emphasis is placed on overcoming nonidealities of the real world and on practical implementations. Students use software-defined radios (SDRs) to implement concepts learned in lecture through regular lab assignments.
- ECE 239AS Wireless Communication Systems. This course highlights key fundamentals of wireless communication and the underlying physical layer (PHY) techniques that are core to modern wireless networks like 5G and Wi-Fi.
RemoteRF Platform
As part of its educational initiatives, the Wireless Lab at UCLA has developed RemoteRF, a platform that allows students to remotely interface with software-defined radios (SDRs) through the UCLA network. Among its many uses, RemoteRF has already been used as a valuable teaching tool by allowing students to actively learn communications by implementing key concepts on the Analog Devices Pluto SDR.
COSMOS Summer School
COSMOS is a four-week summer school program for top high-school students from across California. This state-funded program is meant to prepare high-potential students for successful careers in engineering, science, and mathematics through lectures and hands-on learning with University of California faculty. Prof. Ian Roberts and Prof. Lara Dolecek lead a COSMOS cluster each July at UCLA entitled Bit by Bit: Mathematics and Technologies of the Information Age, where high school students gain a deeper understanding of the underpinnings of the ongoing Information Age. The four-week cluster culminates with students implementing an end-to-end wireless communication system using software-defined radios.