Time and location

Fridays, 1:30pm - 4:10pm
Art and Design Building 2026

Instructor

Office Hours

Tue 3:30-5:30pm
Office: ENGR 5318

Course Description and Objectives

This course will cover state-of-the-art topics in wireless networking and mobile computing. The objective of the course is to introduce students to recent advances in mobile networking and sensing, with an emphasis on practical design aspects of mobile systems.

We will start with introductory topics in wireless networking and mobile sensing which will cover design of today's wireless networks such as 802.11n and 802.11ac, and smartphone/wearable sensing techniques including activity and context recognition. In the second part of the course, we will cover more advanced topics including next generation multi-gigabit wireless networks (5G) such as millimeter wave (802.11ad) and visible light communication, integrated sensing paradigms including localization and RF sensing, low power networking with a focus on RFID backscatter and Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices, and networking aspects of future mobile systems such as drones and autonomous cars.

This course will cover the following topics (view complete syllabus in PDF)

WiFi physical and MAC layer design techniques and overview of IEEE 802.11n and 802.11ac
Mobile and wearable sensing including activity recognition, health monitoring and remote interaction
Next generation (5G) wireless networking using 60 GHz millimeter wave and visible light
Indoor localization of mobile devices and device-free RF sensing
Backscatter communication through RFIDs and overview of Internet-of-Things (IoT) protocols
Future mobile systems such as drone networks and connected vehicles

Please visit the schedule for a detailed list of topics and week-by-week schedule.

Required and reference textbooks

The course has no required textbook. The course is based on lecture notes and a list of research papers from recent conferences and journals, both of which will be provided by the instructor.

The following textbooks can serve as good references -
1. Wireless Communications: Principles and Practice, by Theodore S. Rappaport, Prentice Hall.
2. 802.11n: A Survival Guide, by Matthew Gast, O'Reilly Media.
3. 802.11ac: A Survival Guide, by Matthew Gast, O'Reilly Media.
4. Wireless Networking Complete, by Pei Zheng et al., Morgan Kaufmann.

Prerequisites

Good understanding of computer networking (CS 555) is required.

Course structure and grading

Reviews and presentation	20%
Programming assignments	20%
Class participation	5%
Mid-term exam	20%
Class project	35%

Reviews and presentation: Students will be provided with 1-2 research papers after every alternate class. You will be asked to read the papers and write a short review (2-3 paragraphs) explaining the important aspects (central idea, pros, cons) of the papers. A format of the review will be provided beforehand. The presentation will include one oral presentation per student (likely in the second half of the semester). A list of topics/papers relevant to the course will be provided to choose from.

Programming assignments:

The course will include 2-3 mini programming assignments. These assignments will be based on datasets and traces for wireless networks and smartphone sensors. The students will be asked to analyze the datasets using simple tools and the programming language of their choice to complete the assignment. The assignments will help students in understanding practical aspects/issues in wireless and mobile computing, and also help them prepare for the final project.

Mid-term exam: We will have one in-class midterm exam (date: TBA) based on the topics, papers and material covered in the course. The exam will be open-book, open-notes.

Project: The project can be either implementation based or a survey paper -

1. Implementation: The project will design and implement a mobile sensing technique or a wireless networking protocol within the topics of the course described above. Instructor will provide many sample ideas (e.g. smartphone localization with WiFi, activity tracking with smartwatch, and many more), tutorials and other necessary resources. Necessary mobile devices such as smartphones can be provided for implementation. Experience with development on mobile platforms is *not* mandatory.

2. Survey: This type of project will involve students writing a detailed, comprehensive survey paper based on reading of (a long list of) existing research papers on one specific sub-field discussed in the course. The survey should aim at understanding and organizing the existing research, and identifying important open problems in the sub-field.

The project can be done individually or in teams of 2-3 students. The project topic and team size should be discussed and approved by the instructor. There will be three project deliverables - 1. Project proposal (5%) 2. Final project report (15%) and 3. Final project presentation (15%). The final project report and presentation will be due at the end of the semester.

Policies

GMU Honor Code All students must adhere to the GMU Honor Code and the Computer Science Department's Honor Code Policies. Viotation of the Honor Code will result in a failing grade.

Accommodations for Disabilities If you have a documented learning disability or other condition that may affect academic performance, you should: 1) make sure this documentation is on file with Office for Disability Services (SUB I, Rm. 4205; 993-2474; http://ods.gmu.edu) to determine the accommodations you need; and 2) talk with me within the first week of the semester to discuss any accommodation needs.