| As the United States migrates towards an information based economy, the importance of communication systems to transport information only increases. In recent years, the desire for mobility has made flexible wireless communication systems integral to everyday life. This demand makes it imperative that engineers have a basic understanding of modern communication systems.; The rapid development of high speed computing and signal processing devices has allowed engineers to move the majority of the functionality of a communication system into software. Simulation allows for rapid and inexpensive study of a communication system and software defined radio allows for complete flexibility in the design of such a system.; This thesis provides a laboratory curriculum to introduce engineers to the fundamental concepts involved in building modern communication systems. Students are not only given a means to simulate the theory, but also have the hands-on opportunity to construct functional devices using software defined radio. |
