THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA

Course Code: EEEE 4117

Course title: Wireless and Mobile Communications Systems
Lecturer: Dr Jerome Ndam Mungwe
Tutorials Sheet 2019/2020

1. Transmission Fundamentals
a. Differential between an analog and a digital electromagnetic signal.
b. What are the three important characteristics of a periodic signal?
c. What is the relationship between a signal’s spectrum and its bandwidth?
d. What is attenuation?
e. Define channel capacity
f. What key factors affect channel capacity?
g. Name the design factors of transmission media.
h. What do you understand by Multiplxing?
i. Why is multiplexing so cost effective?
j. A signal has a fundamental frequency of 1000 Hz. What is its period?
k. Express the following in the simplest form you can:
i. sin(2pft - p) + sin(2pft + p)
ii. sin 2pft + sin(2pft - p)
l. What is the channel capacity for a teleprinter channel with a 300-Hz bandwidth and
a signal-to-noise ratio of 3 dB?
m. If a signal with a power level of 10 mW is inserted onto a transmission line and the
measured power some distance away is 5 mW, determine the decibel loss.
2. Communication Networks
a. Differentiate between WANs and LANs
b. Why is it useful to have more than one possible path through a network for each
pair of stations?
c. What is the principal application that has driven the design of circuit-switching
networks?
d. If people are receiving poor quality video, what QoS requirements might not be
being met?
3. Protocols and the TCP/IP Suite
a. What is a protocol architecture?
b. Why is a protocol architecture needed in Communication networks?
c. Name the two protocol architecture which may be used in a Communication
network. Distinguish between tis two architecture.
d. How is internetworking amongst dissimilar subnetworks achieved?
e. List the function of a router.

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 f. What is a protocol data unit (PDU)?

4. Wireless Communication Technology and signal encoding techniques

a. What differentiates a signal from another?
b. What is
i. Dynamic spectrum access?
ii. Cognitive radio?
c. Regulation is import in wireless communication. Name the services that regulation
may provide.
d. Name the four categories of mechanisms to compensate for errors and distortions
introduced by multipath fading .
e. What is modulation?
f. Name the three basic encoding or modulation techniques for transforming digital
data into analog signals.
g.
i. What is “error” in wireless communication?
ii. Name the approaches to cope with data transmission errors.
iii. What two key elements comprise error control?
iv. How is error control achieved?
h. Indicate three major advantages of digital transmission over analog transmission.
i. Briefly define OFDM, OFDMA, and SC-FDMA.
j. What is the fundamental requirement of OFDM?
k. What are the main strengths of OFDM?
l. What are the main technical problem issues of OFDM?
m. What are the main differences between OFDM and OFDMA?
n. What is the digital data-digital signal encoding hardware technology?
o. What do you understand by the “spreading of a signal”?
p. List three benefits of spread spectrum.
5. Wireless Channel
a. What two functions are performed by an antenna?
b. What is an isotropic antenna?
c. Name the various propagation mode in a wireless communication network.
d. List the five basic propagation mechanisms in a wireless communication network.
e. What is the primary cause of signal loss in satellite communications?
f. What is noise in communication systems?
g. Name and briefly define four types of noise.
h.
i. What is free space loss?
ii. Write down the equation to determine the free space loss for an ideal
isotropic antenna in terms of (a) signal power at the transmitting antenna
and receiving antenna (b) in decibels.
iii. Determine the isotropic free space loss at 4 GHz for the shortest path to a
synchronous satellite from earth (35,863 km).

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 iv. Compare the path loss in dB for two possible cellular environments where
there is (1) free space between mobiles and base stations, and (2) urban area
cellular radio with n = 3.1. Use 1.9 GHz at a distance of 1.5 km and assume
isotropic antennas.
6. Cellular Networks
a. What geometric shape is used in cellular system design? Explain the choice of this
geometric shape
b. What is the principle of frequency reuse in the context of a cellular network?
c. List five ways of increasing the capacity of a cellular system.
d. As a mobile unit in communication with a base station moves, what factors
determine the need for power control and the amount of power adjustment?
e. What are the key differences between first- and second-generation cellular
systems?
f. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using CDMA for a cellular network?
g. What are some key characteristics that distinguished 3G cellular systems from 2G
cellular systems?
h. What are the two predominant families of third-generation cellular systems?
i. What are the names of the technologies associated with third-generation systems?
j. Consider four different cellular systems that share the following characteristics.
The frequency bands are 825 to 845 MHz for mobile unit transmission and 870 to
890 MHz for base station transmission. A duplex circuit consists of one 30-kHz
channel in each direction. The systems are distinguished by the reuse factor, which
is 4, 7, 12, and 19, respectively.
i. Suppose that in each of the systems, the cluster of cells (4, 7, 12, 19) is
duplicated 16 times. Find the number of simultaneous communications that
can be supported by each system.
ii. Find the number of simultaneous communications that can be supported by
a single cell in each system.
iii. What is the area covered, in cells, by each system?
iv. Suppose the cell size is the same in all four systems and a fixed area of 100
cells is covered by each system. Find the number of simultaneous
communications that can be supported by each syste
7. Global Systems Mobile
a. Name the various access technologies to a wireless network.
b. Which of these access technologies is applicable to the GSM system?
c. Name the services that may be provided by modern communication network.
d. What is the advantage of the TDMA over FDMA in a GSM network?
e. What do you understand by “Time dispersion” in GSM system?
f. Name the main communication channels in a GSM.
g. How many time slots are in a frame?
h. Name the components of Local Area Identity.
i. How is security ensured in a mobile network?
j. Name the main components of the GSM architecture.
k. Explain the role of AUC and MMI in the network security.
8. EGPRS/GPRS-EDGE

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a. What is EGPRS?
b. Name the two types of GPRS
c. How is 3G different from 2G?
d. Name the approaches in 3G
e. How are Base Stations call in 4G?
f. Name the Protocols in 4G LTE
g. Name the basic Channels in LTE
h. How is LTE 4G different from 3 G?

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