SpectrumX, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Spectrum Innovation Center, has launched its newest educational content module titled Point-to-Point Wireless Telecommunication Links on Coursera.
This course content, designed and taught by NSF SpectrumX Center Director J. Nicholas Laneman, focuses on exploring how links between transmitters and receivers, the fundamental building blocks of wireless communications, function, and the importance of understanding these connections in today’s wireless and digital world.
As outlined in the Coursera Course description, “Starting with the simplest one-way wireless system, [course participants will] learn how information is encoded, modulated, transmitted, and recovered over radio waves. Along the way, [learners will] uncover the core techniques—analog and digital modulation, filtering, error control, and frequency-division strategies—that underpin modern technologies such as satellite communications, 5G infrastructure, scientific telemetry, and emerging wireless broadband solutions.”
This Coursera Course is designed as an on-ramp for those interested in learning more about the radio frequency spectrum. Learners are not expected to have any existing subject matter knowledge. Coursera users may enroll at any time, and it will take an estimated ten hours to complete the Coursera Course’s five modules and ten assignments.
Hosting this course content on Coursera enables its accessibility to the public, as Coursera is an educational and professional development tool used by over 150 million learners worldwide. Enrollment in the Coursera Course is free for users with a Coursera Plus subscription. Users interested in wireless networks or electronics engineering can easily find and access the course through the platform’s search function–no prior familiarity with SpectrumX required.
This self-paced Coursera Course is the first deliverable of the Center’s Radio Systems and Applications course content. The full content will be deployed as a Coursera Course Series, and will also be released for use in for-credit courses at Center member institutions. The Center also plans to make this educational content available as an open-source resource for non-commercial uses.
Laneman is currently developing subsequent Radio Systems and Applications content, and other Center experts are developing separate educational content on spectrum economics and policy as well as spectrum management and policy. This forthcoming educational material will follow the same deployment pathway as the Radio Systems and Applications course content.
Updates on future course content releases and other educational initiatives will be made available on the SpectrumX website and LinkedIn.
About SpectrumX
SpectrumX is funded by the NSF as part of its Spectrum Innovation Initiative, under grant number AST 21-32700. SpectrumX is the world’s largest academic hub where all radio spectrum stakeholders can innovate, collaborate, and contribute to maximizing social welfare of this precious resource.
To learn more about SpectrumX, please visit spectrumx.org.
Contact:
Stephanie Loney, Research Communications Specialist
NSF SpectrumX / Notre Dame Research / University of Notre Dame
sloney@nd.edu / 574.631.7804
spectrumx.org
