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Analysis of Wireless and Mobile Computer Networks Courses Maurice F. Aburdene, Xiannong Meng, L. Felipe Perrone, and Gregory L. Mokodean Bucknell University

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of wireless and mobile computer networks courses. The results are based on information collected from course Web sites of universities and colleges in computer science, electrical engineering and information science departments. The data analyzed include course titles, course structure, textbooks, major topics and their presentation, projects, and laboratory exercises. We found that wireless and mobile computer network education can be divided into three categories: courses that cover wireless network topics such as computer networks and data-and- communication; courses dedicated to wireless networks; and a sequence of core and supporting courses which typically take the form of a track, or a concentration in wireless communication.

Introduction

In the late 80’s, Mark Weiser and the team at Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) described the ubiquitous computing research project [14,15]. Two key foundations for achieving the goal of ubiquitous computing are wireless communications and mobile communications. Wireless and mobile communications allow computing devices to “talk” to each other without being constrained by physical cables used in a wired network environment. Recognizing the importance of wireless and mobile communications in today’s computing environment, many universities across the world are offering courses on the subject in undergraduate and graduate studies.

Wireless and mobile communication courses are taught either as a part of a degree program typically by a university or college, or as a professional development program offered by an industrial entity or an extension of a college program. Departments that offer such courses include electrical engineering (EE), electrical and computer engineering (ECE), computer science (CS), and information technology (IT). Courses offered by the EE or ECE departments often focus more on communications aspects; those offered by CS departments concentrate more on protocols and their interaction with the Internet; while those offered by the IT departments tend to focus more on security and management of wireless networks.

Since a variety of academic departments with different objectives offer wireless courses, the course topics vary widely. Common topics in EE and ECE courses include radio frequency (RF) circuit design, antennas, modulation techniques, radio communications, cellular telephone systems, wireless signal propagation, signal coding, and other wireless network infrastructure related topics. These topics typically belong to the physical layer when a layered architecture reference framework is used. On the other hand, topics found in the CS courses emphasize “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2005, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Mokodean, G., & Meng, X., & Perrone, L., & Aburdene, M. (2005, June), Analysis Of Wireless And Mobile Computer Networks Courses Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14621