Wireless Networks

CSE 122 / CSE 222C / WES 269 – Winter 2026

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Key dates for Winter Quarter 2026
Quarter Begins
Fri Jan 2
First Day of Classes
Mon Jan 5
Last Day of Classes
Fri Mar 13
Quarter Ends
Sat Mar 21
eGrades Deadline
Wed Mar 25

      Topics Assignments CSE 122 CSE 222C WES 269
Introduction & Networking Basics
Week 1 Welcome & Intro [pptx] [pdf]
  • Course overview
  • Introduction the IoT
  • Introduction to wireless communication
Networking Primer [pptx] [pdf]
  • OSI layer model
  • IP and routing basics
  • Data link layer
 Assigned: Mon Jan 5 Mon Jan 5 Mon Jan 5
Week 1 Papers
Note: There is no assignment here, just pointers to good reads if you are interested.
What does “calm” computing mean? Technology capability has broadly exceeded these projections, but have we actually delivered on the vision? Written before “mobile computing” existed, what did researchers get right, get wrong about technology directions and needs? What physical world fundamentals did they identify, and how did these help guide the predictions? How are these same fundamentals affecting technology today? 		(No Official Assignment)
Lab 1: Wireshark (take home) Lab 1 for CSE122/222C will be take home this week; WES will start Lab 1 in class this week.
[docx]
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • What is “sniffing” and how to do it?
  • How to find specific traffic you generate?
  • How to identify layers in a captured packet?
  • How to infer information about unknown traffic?
 Due on Wed Jan 14 @ 10am
  • Homework 1
  • Pre-Lab 1
  • Lab 1
  • Post-Lab 1
In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 1
 		Take Home Take Home Fri Jan 9, 09:00
Bluetooth Week 2 Wireless Basics [pptx] [pdf]
  • PHY layer
  • How PHY impacts Data impacts Network impacts...
  • Medium Access Control
 Assigned: In-Flight:
  • Pre-Lab 2
  • Post-Lab 2
 		Mon Jan 12 Mon Jan 12 Mon Jan 12
Week 3 Bluetooth Foundations (PHY, MAC) [pptx] [pdf]
  • BLE Background
  • BLE Layers
    • Physical Layer
    • Link Layer
  • BLE Roles
    • Advertising
    • Scanning
 In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 2
Lab 2: BLE Advertisements and Connections [docx]
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • How to generate and control contents of advertisement packets?
  • How to deconstruct a captured advertisement packet?
  • How the capabilities of different BLE sniffers vary, and the significance of those limitations?
  • How much BLE traffic is in your environment, and how to figure out what (some of it at least..) is?
  • What are GATT Profiles and how do they “define” devices?
  • What does pairing actually do, and what differs between various paring modes?
  • Why is sniffing connections harder than advertisements?
 Due:
  • Post-Lab 2
In-Flight:
  • Pre-Lab 3
 		Fri Jan 23, 23:59 Fri Jan 23, 23:59 Fri Jan 30, 09:00
802.15.4 Week 4 BLE, BLE adv's [pptx] [pdf]
  • Communicating with Advertisements
    • Advertisement Use Cases
    • Energy Use
    • Packet Collisions
BLE Connections [pptx] [pdf]
  • Connection PHY and Link Layer
  • Connections as Networks
  • GATT
  • BLE 5
IEEE 802.15.4 [pptx] [pdf]
  • Overview
  • Physical Layer
  • Link Layer
  • Packet Structure
 Assigned: In-Flight:
  • Pre-Lab 3
  • Post-Lab 3
 		Tue Jan 27 Tue Jan 27 Tue Jan 27
Lab 3: 15.4
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • How to construct a 15.4 packet header?
  • How 15.4 can address other devices?
  • How to save power while transmitting and receiving with 15.4?
Week 5 Low-Power MACs & Routing [pptx] [pdf]
  • Low-Power MACs
  • Simple Routing
  • Mesh Routing
  • Efficient Flooding (Synchronous Transmissions)
 In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 3
Lab 3: Thread
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
  • How to join and introspect a Thread network?
  • How Thread devices look to “the internet” writ large?
 Due:
  • Post-Lab 3
 Fri Feb 8, 23:59 Fri Feb 8, 23:59 Fri Feb 14, 9:00
WiFi Weeks 6 and 7 Thread [pptx] [pdf]
  • Mesh Refresher
  • Thread
    • Overview
    • Addressing
    • Runtime Behavior
WiFi (PHY) [pptx] [pdf]
  • WiFi Overview
  • WiFi PHY
    • 802.11/802.11b
    • 802.11a/802.11g
    • 802.11n/802.11ac
    • “WiFi 6” (ax)
    • “WiFi 7” (be)
    • “WiFi 8” (bn?)
    • Read-World WiFi
WiFi (MAC) [pptx] [pdf]
  • 802.11 Access Control
  • 802.11 Frame Format
  • 802.11e Improvements
  • Microcontrollers & WiFi
MQTT Primer [pptx] [pdf]
  • MQTT Basics
 Assigned:
  • Pre-Lab 4
In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 3
  • Pre-Lab 4
  • Post-Lab 4
 		Mon Feb 10 Mon Feb 10 Mon Feb 10
Lab 4: WiFi
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
Due:
  • Post-Lab 3
  • Pre-Lab 4
In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 4
LPWANs Week 8 (Feb 24–Mar 2) LPWANs [pptx] [pdf]
  • Wide-Area Networks & LPWAN Design
  • LoRa & LoRaWAN
  • Other LPWANs
    • Sigfox
    • 802.11ah
    • TV Whitespaces
  • Research in LPWANs
    • Challenges / Limitations for current LPWANs
    • Innovations to improve LPWANs
    • New approaches to wide-area infrastructure
 Assigned:
  • Post-Lab 5 [docx]
In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 4
  • Homework 2
  • Post-Lab 5
 		Mon Feb 24 Mon Feb 24 Mon Feb 24
Lab 5: LoRa [docx]
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
In-Flight:
  • Post-Lab 4
  • Homework 2
  • Post-Lab 5
 		Thr Feb 27, 14:00 Fri Feb 28, 9:00 Fri Feb 28, 9:00
Week 9 (Mar 3–9) Satellite [pptx] [pdf]
  • Satellite Communication
  • Satellite Communications Providers
  • Cellular-to-Satellite Communication
Low-to-No Power RF [pptx] [pdf]
  • Backscatter
    • Antenna & Wave Primer
    • History
    • Modern Uses
  • Backscatter Uses
    • RFID
    • NFC
    • Research: Long-Range Backscatter?
    • Research: Localization?
  • Wakeup Radios (briefly)
 In-Flight:
  • Homework 2
  • Post-Lab 5
Lab 5: LoRa [docx]
Outcomes– After this lab you should understand:
Due:
  • Post-Lab 4
  • Post-Lab 5
In-Flight:
  • Homework 2
 		Thr Mar 6, 14:00 Fri Mar 7, 9:00 Fri Mar 7, 9:00
Cellular Week 10 (Mar 10–16) Cellular [pptx] [pdf]
  • Cellular Network Overview
  • LTE-M and NB-IoT
  • 5G and IoT
 In-Flight:
  • Homework 2
 		Mon Mar 10 Mon Mar 10 Mon Mar 10
Due:
  • Homework 2
 Thr Mar 13, 14:00 Fri Mar 14, 9:00 Fri Mar 14, 9:00
Finals Week Week 11 (Mar 17–23) Due:
  • Final Design Report
 Thr Mar 20, 20:00 Fri Mar 21, 20:00 Mon Mar 24, 8:00
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Copyright Pat Pannuto, 2025.