Teaching Signal Processing and Wave Propagation Using Software-Defined Radio

Teaching engineering technology students, who at best have had a basic introduction to calculus, about wireless communication systems is a daunting, but not impossible task.We describe the design of a course on wireless communication systems in the Department of Engineering Technology at the University of Kentucky.Emphasis is placed on experiential and inquiry-based learning, heavily inspired by the way amateur radio operators are being introduced to ever more complex aspects of their hobby.The availability of cheap software-defined radio receivers and transmitters allows for each student to experiment with their personal equipment in order to receive and demodulate AM, FM, and digital signals in the VHF, UHF, and ISM bands.Along the way, students will be introduced to antenna radiation patterns, wave diffraction, signal interference, sample rate adjustments, aliasing, the Dirac Delta Distribution, the Fourier Transform's shift theorem, and other aspects of digital signal processing.All this happens on an almost purely phenomenological basis, with minimal mathematics being required.