The course focuses on the networking aspects of broadband mobile communication systems. It introduces the fundamental concepts and principles of wireless networks. Then, it illustrates the main wireless network systems conceived and designed for the support of multimedia traffic and innovative applications, mainly hotspot WiFi, cellular wireless networks (2G/3G/4G) and the upcoming 5G communication systems. For each of them, the course will highlight and discuss aspects related to the support of quality of service (QoS) and user mobility. The knowledge and abilities that students are expected to acquire through this course are relevant to create experts in the design and management of wireless networks as well as to be able to carry out scientific research in the field.
The course includes both lectures and numerical exercises. The latter consist in the presentation and solution of numerical problems, and aim at clarifying and further investigating some of the concepts that are presented in the class lecturers.
Students will acquire knowledge on broadband wireless networks, the challenges that they exhibit and current approaches. By doing this, students will learn methods for network design and possible solutions to the problems that broadband networks pose.

1. Knowledge of the main aspects of the existing and emerging technologies for broadband wireless networking
2. Knowledge of the design and analysis of cellular (2G/3G/4G) and WiFi networks and their integration
3. Knowledge of the design and analysis of techniques for the transport of user traffic (data plane)
4. Knowledge of the algorithms and the protocols for the management of user mobility
5. Knowledge of the algorithms and the protocols for QoS provisioning
6. Ability to identify capabilities and critical issues of a network system
7. Ability to assign physical resources (e.g., frequency channels) for service support
8. Ability to design a medium control access scheme and traffic scheduling algorithms
9. Ability to design algorithms and protocols for user mobility management
10. Ability to design algorithms and protocols for QoS provisioning
11. Ability to understand and solve technical problems related to the interaction of communication nodes in complex network systems.

Students are assumed to have basic knowledge on the following topics in physical layer of communication systems:
- Channel Coding
- Modulations
- Channel models: AWGN channel, frequency and time selective fading channel, multi antenna and multi user channels.
Students are assumed to have basic knowledge on the following topics in networking:
- ISO/OSI protocol stack
- Circuit and packet switching
- Ethernet
- Basic knowledge of multiple access techniques
- Basic knowledge of TCP/IP

Wireless cellular networks:
- General principles, network planning and heterogeneous networks (0.6 ECTS)
- Evolution of cellular networks from 2G (0.6 ECTS) to 3G (UMTS) networks (0.6 ECTS) and LTE/LTE-A (0.8 ECTS): Main solutions for QoS guarantees and user mobility support
- 5G networks (0.4 ECTS)

Hotspot WiFi (1.8 ECTS):
- IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n
- Channel access techniques
- Quality of service support
- Integration with cellular networks and traffic offloading

Numerical exercises on WiFi and cellular networks account for 1.2 ECTS.

Lectures are held with the support of slides. Numerical exercises are presented and solved using the blackboard. Technical discussions during class lectures will also help to assess the acquired level of knowledge and ability at the different stages of the course.
Typically, the course hosts a couple of seminars by mobile operators, who present the latest advances on standardization and the evolution of actual broadband communication networks.

The teaching material (slides and text of numerical problems) is available on the web portal of the course.
Useful references are as follows:
- WCDMA for UMTS: radio access for third generation mobile communications, H. Holma and A. Toskala (Ed.s), Wiley, 2000.
- B.A. Miller, C. Bisdikian, Bluetooth Revealed,Prentice-Hall, 2002
- M. Gast, 802.11 Wireless Networks: The Definitive Guide, O'Reilly (Networking), 2002.
- F. Hillebrand, GSM and UMTS, The Creation of Global Mobile Communications, John Wiley & Sons, 2002.
- Multimedia over IP and Wireless Networks, Chu and M. van der Schaar (Eds.), Academic Press, 2007.
- F. Khan, LTE for 4G Mobile Broadband, Cambridge University Press, 2009.

The exam consists of a written test, which lasts about 1 hour and a half. The test focuses on all course topics, specifically: WiFi networks, 2G/3G networks, LTE/LTE-A/5G networks, QoS support and mobility management. The test typically includes 4 questions, among which there is at least one numerical problem to solve. The remaining questions require the description and the analysis of a system aspect. Each question is assigned a number of points, which reflects the level of difficulty of the question/problem. The answers to open questions are evaluated considering their correctness, the level of knowledge that the student has acquired on the topic, and the student’s ability to precisely answer the question and to clearly communicate the technical material with accurate terms. The solution of numerical problems is evaluated based on its correctness and technical rigor, on the rational followed by the student and on the student’s ability to apply the acquired know-how. The final mark is computed by summing the marks obtained in each question.