Communication & Radio Access Networks
ApplyKey facts
- Accreditation: triple-accredited Business School - AACSB, EQUIS, AMBA
Study with us
This course will help you:
- understand the modern mobile and wireless marketplace and engineering and technology requirements to build public and private networks
- know the function and operation of common and key engineering components for modern radio access networks (RAN)
- be able to define and review the main engineering attributes of the physical layers for Wi-Fi and 4G/5G and Satellite
- know the key parameters for radio propagation, spectrum bandwidths, and noise, interference and co-existence issues
- understand the importance of standards (3GPP, 802.11 etc) and how industry, government and market demand influences the standardisation process
Communication & Radio Access Networks is delivered by Electronic & Electrical Engineering, in partnership with Strathclyde Executive Education & Development.
Why this course?
This course will introduce wireless networks from a technical perspective, including the background of wireless standards, and the evolution to 5G and beyond.
You will learn the theory underpinning radio transmission and reception, and appreciate the need for standards and protocols for accessing the RF spectrum, which forms the channel in wireless communications systems.
You will also gain practical knowledge of designing Radio Access Networks (RANs), including technical, economic, and regulatory factors, and gain an appreciation of candidate use-cases served by private and public networks.
The course will provide a firm technical grounding in wireless communications systems. It aims to ‘demystify’ how radio communications work and explain some of the terminology around this topic, so that you will feel confident evaluating and discussing radio communications systems.
The content is structured to pair theory with practice, enabling participants to appreciate the development of RANs, and the factors influencing their design. These aspects of the module are illustrated through case studies on public and private networks.
What you'll study
The content is structured to pair theory with practice, enabling participants to appreciate the development of RANs, and the factors influencing their design. These aspects of the module are illustrated through case studies on public and private networks. Topics covered include:
- The Evolution of Mobile and Wireless Networks
- The journey from 1G to 5G
- Key wireless network concepts, metrics, and terminology
- Radio spectrum and signal transmission
- Radio Communications Engineering Principles
- Transmitting and receiving radio signals
- Baseband and bandpass processing; modulation and demodulation
- Spectrum access and using radio channels
- Radio Access Networks and Technologies
- Architecture and components of Radio Access Networks (RANs)
- Noise, interference and coexistence
- 5G public and private networks
- Standards and Regulations
- Spectrum access and government regulators
- Wireless communications standards (3GPP, IEEE)
- Interoperability and sharing (roaming, neutral hosting, Open RAN)
- Design, Implementation, and Case Studies
- Open RAN principles, Software Defined Radio (SDR), and disaggregation
- Public and private networks – technology, economics, and applications
- Design case studies on public and private networks
This course is worth 20 credits at SQCF Level 11, upon successful completion of the assessment.
Course structure & dates
Depending on demand, this course can be delivered in person at the University of Strathclyde or online only.
Course dates will be confirmed once an adequate number of applications have been received. If you are interested in taking part in this course, please do not hesitate to submit an application.
Strathclyde Business School
Strathclyde Business School holds triple accreditation from three main business school accreditation bodies - AMBA, EQUIS and AACSB. The school has been recognised for the outstanding support it has given to Scottish businesses, particularly in innovation and leadership. This is demonstrated through the school being the first in Scotland to be awarded the Small Business Charter Award.
Course directors
Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart is Professor of Signal Processing and Communications at the University of Strathclyde, where he leads a team of around twenty researchers and engineers working on Software Defined Radio (SDR), 5G, shared spectrum, and related topics. Bob also collaborates extensively with industry, government, and other universities in advancing wireless communications. Bob has published over 100 technical papers, 4 books, and has 25+ years of experience in presenting technical short courses. He is also a previous Head of the Dept. of Electronic & Electrical Engineering at Strathclyde, and has founded two spin-out companies.
David Crawford
David Crawford is a Principal Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the University of Strathclyde, where he manages a programme of industry/academic collaborative projects focusing on shared spectrum, private 5G networks, and future advanced communications. David has championed the development of shared spectrum methods and adoption for more than a decade. David holds four degrees, all from Strathclyde, including a PhD and MBA. Prior to rejoining the University, initially to manage the Centre for White Space Communications, David worked in industry for Epson and Motorola.
Louise Crockett
Louise Crockett is a Senior Teaching Fellow at the University of Strathclyde. She teaches across several years of the degree programmes in Electronic & Electrical Engineering, covering digital systems design with VHDL and FPGAs, digital signal processing implementation, and wireless communications. Louise also leads a team of PhD researchers working on FPGAs and SDR. As lead-author / editor, Louise has published three books in collaboration with AMD (formerly Xilinx) on FPGA-based System on Chip (SoC) technology, including most recently Software Defined Radio with Zynq UltraScale+ RFSoC in 2023.
Fees & funding
Fees may be subject to updates to maintain accuracy. Tuition fees will be notified in your offer letter.
All fees are in £ sterling, unless otherwise stated, and may be subject to revision.
Annual revision of fees
Students on programmes of study of more than one year (or studying standalone modules) should be aware that the majority of fees will increase annually. The University will take a range of factors into account, including, but not limited to, UK inflation, changes in delivery costs and changes in Scottish and/or UK Government funding. Changes in fees will be published on the University website in October each year for the following year of study and any annual increase will be capped at a maximum of 10% per year.
| All applicants | £2,250 |
|---|
We will accept a credit card payment, or if preferred an invoice can be issued.
Apply
Please note that this course is included as a module on the wider MSc Communication, Technology Policy & Strategy, but can be taken as a single course for CPD (Continuing Professional Development) purposes. This course is worth 20 credits at SQCF Level 11, upon successful completion of the assessment.
Applications for both the wider MSc and the Communication and Radio Access Networks course are accepted via the same application link.
If you would like to take part in either option, then please complete an application. Someone from our team will then be in touch in due course
.