Overview

Point-to-point wireless telecommunication links are the backbone of many systems we rely on every day—from deep-space probes transmitting scientific discoveries across billions of miles, to the microwave backhaul networks that quietly carry data between cell towers, to fixed wireless access systems delivering broadband to homes and businesses. Even the most advanced multi-user wireless networks ultimately rely on the same fundamental building block: a reliable link between a transmitter and a receiver. In this course, you’ll explore some aspects of how that link works and why understanding it is essential in today’s interconnected world. Starting with the simplest one-way wireless system, you’ll learn how information is encoded, modulated, transmitted, and recovered over radio waves. Along the way, you’ll uncover the core techniques—analog and digital modulation, filtering, error control, and frequency-division strategies—that underpin modern technologies such as satellite communications, 5G infrastructure, scientific telemetry, and emerging wireless broadband solutions. By the end of the course, you’ll not only understand how a point-to-point link operates but also why these principles continue to drive innovation across the wireless ecosystem. This foundation will build upon and prepare you for other courses in the series and give you insight into the engineering decisions shaping today’s most critical communication systems. This course was developed with the support of SpectrumX, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Spectrum Innovation Center. NSF SpectrumX is funded via Award 2132700 and operated under cooperative agreement by the University of Notre Dame. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.

Syllabus

Overview of Point-to-Point Wireless Links

Module 1 introduces you to the core ideas behind point-to-point wireless telecommunication links. You’ll explore how information moves from a transmitter to a receiver across distance, using a simple one-way link as your starting point. Through a real-world example from NASA’s deep-space communication systems, you’ll see how these principles are applied in some of the most demanding communication environments. This module sets the stage for the rest of the course by building your foundational understanding of signal transmission, system components, and the challenges and possibilities of long-distance wireless links.

Analog Carrier Modulation & Demodulation

In Module 2, you’ll dive into the heart of how information is prepared for efficient wireless transmission through analog carrier modulation and demodulation. You’ll explore how a low-frequency baseband message is converted into a high-frequency passband signal for transmission, and then how the receiver recovers the original message. The module walks you through key techniques such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), and then extends to advanced practices like heterodyning and frequency-division multiplexing (FDM). You’ll gain a clear understanding of why these methods matter in real-world systems and how they enable multiple signals to share a communication medium.

Digital Baseband Modulation and Demodulation

Module 3 introduces the core building blocks of digital communication, focusing on how streams of bits are transformed, transmitted, and recovered over a baseband channel. You’ll explore how bits map to symbol constellations, how pulse shaping controls bandwidth and limits intersymbol interference, and how the matched filter (correlation receiver) enables optimal detection of symbol waveforms. The module concludes with error-control coding, highlighting how redundancy improves reliability and how practical systems approach the fundamental limits of communication performance. Together, these concepts form the foundation of modern digital wireless systems.

Survey of Point-to-Point Wireless Applications

Module 4 brings together all the concepts you’ve learned by exploring how point-to-point wireless link principles appear in real-world communication systems. You’ll examine a range of applications—including NASA’s Voyager deep-space communication link, satellite telemetry systems, microwave backhaul networks, and fixed wireless access—and compare how each one addresses unique challenges related to distance, power, bandwidth, and the physical environment. This module emphasizes how modulation, coding, link budgeting, and system design choices are shaped by real engineering constraints.

Course Conclusion

To conclude the course, you will complete a final synthesis homework assignment, where you integrate ideas from all four modules and apply them to analyze a point-to-point wireless communication scenario.