CS169 Winter 25

CS169: Mobile Wireless Networks

UC Riverside, CS 169, Winter 25

Course Description

Introduces the fundamentals of wireless and mobile networks. Covers wireless channel models, MAC protocols, and wireless network architectures. Also covers cellular and Wi-Fi networks. Includes wireless security and the impact of wireless links on TCP and other transport layer solutions. You will also have an opportunity to get your hands dirty to work on mobile wireless network-related projects.

See below for more details.

Logistics

Lecture: Tuesdays and Thursdays 2:00-3:20 PM
Student Success Center | Room 216

Lab: Tuesdays 4:00-5:50 PM (Starting Week 2)
Gordon Watkins Hall | Room 2240

Instructor
Zhaowei Tan
Email: ztan at ucr dot edu
Office: Winston Chung Hall 357 (Inside the CSE Admin Suite @ Winston Chung Hall 351)
Office hours: Thursdays after class 3:30 - 5:30PM (or by appointment)

Teaching Assistant
Zhutian Liu
Email: zliu272 at ucr dot edu
Office hours: Tuesdays after lab until 6:30

Grading

Homework: 20%
Quiz: 10%
Lab: 40%
Final: 30%

Homework: You need to finish 4 homework assignments, each worth 5%. They will be released on Fridays in Week 2, 4, 6, and 8. Each homework will due the next Friday 11:55PM PT after its release.
Late Policy: You have 5 (Five) slip days in total. Notify the TA if you intend to use them on any of the homework assignments before its deadline.

Quiz: We will have three in-class quiz. Each is worth 5%. Two of the best scores will be recorded. They will be in week 3, 6 and 9 (either lecture).

Lab: We will begin our lab from Week 2. There will be three stages for our lab session.

Stage 1 (Week 2-4): Learning the basics. TA will lead you through the basics of the networking-related software tools. Each week will have an in-lab quick checking, so please do attend the first three lab sessions.
Stage 2 (Week 5-7): Project 1. Now you will utilize the knowledge to finish the projects. For project 1, the TA will explain it in Week 5 Lab, and you need to demo the project during Week 7 Lab. You will write a short report to summarize your work (template will be provided).
Stage 3 (Week 8-10): Project 2. The TA will explain project 2 in Week 8 Lab, and you need to demo the project during Week 10 Lab. You will write a short report to summarize your work (template will be provided).

Lab Score Breakdown: Each quick checking will be worth 5%. Project 1 is worth 10%. Project 2 is worth 15%.

Final: ~~Time and location will be announced by the registrar (I will update it here as well once available.)~~
(Updated on Feb. 18th) Thursday 3/20, 7-10PM at Winston Chung Hall 142

Schedule (updated on Jan. 7th)

Week	Date	Tuesday Lecture	Date	Thursday Lecture
1	1/7	Logistics + Overview	1/9	Introduction to Networking
2	1/14	Networking Cont'd and Overview of Wireless Networks	1/16	Wireless Network Radio Signals
3	1/21	Medium Access for Wireless	1/23	Medium Access for Wireless (Cont'd)
4	1/28	Cellular Overview: From 1G to 5G	1/30	5G Continued
5	2/4	Data Transmission in Cellular Networks	2/6	Mobility in 5G
6	2/11	Wi-Fi Overview	2/13	Wi-Fi Continued
7	2/18	Mobility in Wi-Fi	2/20	Other short-range wireless networks
8	2/25	Impact of Mobile Wireless Networks on Higher Layers	2/27	Impact of Mobile Wireless Networks on Applications
9	3/4	5G Security Basics	3/6	Wi-Fi Security Basics
10	3/11	Advanced Topics in Mobile Wireless Networks	3/13	Review