In the winter semester 2018/19, the project-based learning (PBL) course on modern wireless systems was offered by the Institute of Communications for the first time. This new course is part of the module “Modern Wireless Systems”, which is recommended for Master students in the third semester.

In the PBL course, students could work on different aspects of WiFi systems (IEEE 802.11). In total, 13 students were enrolled and collaborated in five groups. Various technical topics were addressed, such as channel estimation, synchronization, and link adaptation. To obtain quantitative results, students used the software tool GNU Radio. In this way, technical solutions for the mentioned tasks could be implemented and assessed.

The 30th January 2019 marked the first successful completion of the PBL course, when the groups showed the results of their work in poster presentations. In their talks, the students outlined the problem statement, the investigated approaches, practical challenges in the implementation phase, and the obtained outcome. Each 10-minute presentation was complemented by a brief technical discussion, including questions from the audience.

It can be summarized that all students were very motivated during the complete PBL course and gave interesting contributions. Moreover, it can be concluded from the feedback that students rated the course as a suitable supplement to the given lecture, since they could transfer the learnt theoretical concepts into practice, thus gaining an in-depth knowledge on certain aspects of wireless systems. It is planned to continue and develop the PBL course further over the next years.