On 22nd September 2018, the “Tag des Wissens” (“Knowledge Day”) was hosted by TUHH. Open to the general public, the event was centered on the topic of “Technology and Digital Worlds”. 20 universities and research institutions presented their projects and activities on the campus, among them: Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR), Fraunhofer CML, Hafencity University, Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU), Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, TUHH, and University of Hamburg. A comprehensive program was offered throughout the whole afternoon, ranging from presentations and science shows to various hands-on experiments for adults as well as for children. The event attracted around 4500 visitors.

As one part of the program schedule, the “Zentrum für Lehre und Lernen” (ZLL) organized several talks on digital tools which are presently applied in teaching at TUHH. In this framework, the Institute of Communications presented a new project-based learning course called “Selected Topics of Modern Wireless Systems”. In the course, students use the software GNU Radio to implement, analyze, and assess different signal processing techniques in wireless systems, e.g., in WiFi and Long Term Evolution (4G). By complementing their theoretical knowledge of digital communications with solving of practical problems, students shall be activated and develop a deeper knowledge of the taught subjects.

In a 30-minute talk, Rainer Grünheid outlined the main ideas and concepts behind the course in general and the use of GNU Radio in particular. For that purpose, he also gave a software demonstration to exemplarily visualize signal distortions in wireless data transmission. Moreover, he addressed a possible extension of the course tasks by using hardware modules. The additional hardware will facilitate a real data transmission over the air between two laptops in the future.

The course is currently ongoing (winter semester 2018/19) and will be evaluated by ZLL in 2019.