The key objective of Mobile Internet Research is to provide a deep understanding of techniques, mechanisms, protocols and overall network architectures for future Internet design. Special emphasis is given to mobility aspects of future Internet since this is a clear distinction from the current mainly static Internet. The programme heavily involves network design, software implementation and experimentation.
KEY BENEFITS
- Located in the heart of London.
- Develop an in-depth technical knowledge in key state of the art technologies in the areas of mobile Internet and Internet technologies.
- Prepare students for more advanced academic programmes such as MPhil and PhD degrees.
- Students work closely with internationally known researchers at the Center for Telecommunications Research, providing them an excellent platform to excel in research and innovation in the area of wireless communications.
KEY FACTS
Student destinations
Graduates of this programme are excellently placed to perform cutting-edge research both in the research and development sectors within the mobile industry or to further their academic studies towards MPhil and PhD degrees.
Programme leader/s
Professor Hamid Aghvami
Awarding Institution
King's College London
Credit value (UK/ECTS equivalent)
UK 180/ECTS 90
Duration
One year FT, September to September.
Location
Strand Campus.
Year of entry 2013
Offered by
School of Natural and Mathematical Sciences
Institute of Telecommunications
Closing date
31 July or until places are filled.
Intake
Up to 5-6 students FT.
Fees
FT Home: £7900 (2013)
FT Overseas: £20000 (2013)
CONTACTS
Contact information
Postgraduate Officer, Centre for Arts & Sciences Admissions (CASA)
tel:+44(0) 20 7848 2574/ 7210
fax: +44(0) 20 7848 7200
Email
Website
PURPOSE
The aim of this programme is to provide students with theoretical and advanced simulation skills necessary to pursue careers in the Research and Development sectors in the mobile industry area. The programme concerns with the design and implementation of innovative technologies to boost the performance of wired and wireless computer network infrastructures.
DESCRIPTION
- The programme provides students with an in-depth understanding of key technologies in the area of mobile Internet by conducting research.
- The key strength of the programme is the close link with the state-of-the-art research environment at the Centre for Telecommunications Research that provide a rich intellectual environment for students to achieve their goals and gain strong employment prospects.
In addition to the individual project, including writing a research thesis, students are required to complete two taught modules students in order to be eligible for the award of the MSc degree.
STRUCTURE OVERVIEW
Core programme content
Individual Project.
Indicative non-core content
Any two modules from the following:
- Digital Communication
- Mobile and Personal Communications
- Network Theory
- Optical Communications
- Random Variables and Stochastic Processing
- Telecommunications Networks I
- Telecommunications Networks II.
FORMAT AND ASSESSMENT
Two modules assessed by written examinations. The modules may contain an obligatory coursework component. Assessment of written final research project (i.e. Research Thesis).
MODULES
More information on typical programme modules.
NB it cannot be guaranteed that all modules are offered in any particular academic year.
Module code: 7CCSMDCO
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
The aim of this course is to provide a deep understanding of digital transmission techniques, emphasising important concepts and features of digital radio systems.
At the end of the course students should:
- understand various detection techniques for base-band signals;
- understand various digital modulation techniques;
- be familiar with filtering requirements of radio systems;
- be able to evaluate the performance of various radio systems;
- be able to write link budgets for different radio systems;
- have an awareness of the existing forward error control codes such as block codes and convolutional codes as well as the ability to draw the state diagram, the trellis diagram, and the encoder structure for a given code;
- understand the different decoding algorithms such as the Viterbi algorithm.
Syllabus
- Scrambling/descrambling
- Multiplexing techniques
- Additive White Gaussian Noise, AWGN
- Detection for baseband digital signals corrupted by AWGN
- Eye diagram and inter symbol interference ISI
- Bit error rate performance of baseband digital signals in presence of noise and ISI
- Description of M-ary digital modulation systems (PSK, MSK, QAM)
- Symbol performance in the presence of AWGN and ISI and co-channel interference (CCI)
- Power spectral analyses
- Bandwidth requirement and timing recovery circuits
- Reliability objectives
- System gain
- Fade margin requirements for a specific system availability
- Design guidelines
- Transparent and regenerative transponders
- Single channel per carrier systems (SCPC)
- Frequency division multiple access FDMA
- Time division multiple access TDMA
- Link budget, error control coding schemes
- Linear systematic codes
- Block codes
- Cyclic codes
- Convolutional codes
- Turbo codes
- Decoding techniques
Module code: 7CCSMMPC
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s
The aim of this course is to provide the students with a comprehensive knowledge of all technical aspects, operations and applications of second generation and third generation cellular mobile systems. Part I of the course deals with the concept of cellular systems and the basic design of analogue cellular systems. Part II is concerned with system and application aspects of second generation (GSM&GPRS) and third generation cellular mobile system (UMTS).
At the end of the course students should:
- understand basic elements of a mobile network;
- understand operation of cellular mobile systems;
- have familiarity with second generation systems;
- be able to understand the techniques used in third generation systems;
- be able to plan and optimise cellular networks;
- have an awareness of services and applications.
Syllabus
- Principle of cellular mobile systems
- Cellular network planning
- Link budget
- Sectrisation
- Cell splitting
- Operation of analogue systems
- All aspects of GSM and GPRS from physical to network layer
- Introduction to UMTS
- UMTS terrestrial radio access network
- Protocol and functions of UMTS
- UMTS core networks
- Services and applications
- WCDMA planning and optimisation
- Introduction to fixed and mobile WiMAX, and description of their technical aspects
Module code: 7CCSMNTH
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
The aim of this course is to provide students comprehensive knowledge of different mathematical techniques that are used in modelling and performance analysis of the computer and communication networks.
This course will cover three topics that are relevant for researchers in the area of communication networking: Graph theory, Optimisation, and Queuing theory. All topics will be discussed along with their applications in networking. The depth of coverage will be sufficient to allow students to read and understand papers that use these standard techniques. Ideas will be taught through intuition, mathematically correct formalisation, and detailed numerical examples. Students are expected to have an undergraduate level knowledge of calculus and linear algebra.
Syllabus
- Graph Theory: Paths in graphs (Dijkstra, Bellman-Fordm), Spanning Tree, Greedy algorithms (Kruskal's algorithm, Prim's algorithm, amortised analysis)
- Queuing Theory: Stochastic processes, Markov Chains, Derivation of the Kolmogorov–Chapman equations, M/M/1, M/M/m and M/M/ M/M/ queues, Burke's Theorem, Analytical proof of the Jackson Theorem for Open Networks
- Optimisation: Linear programming (including integer), Non-linear optimisation (constrained and unconstrained), Heuristics (Hill-climbing, Simulated annealing, and Genetic algorithms)
Module code: 7CCSMOPC
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
The aim of this course is to familiarise the students with the principles and technology of optical communication systems, with emphasis on fibre-optic communications.
At the end of the course students should:
- have acquired knowledge of the fundamentals of optical communications;
- be familiar with optical fibres and optical waveguides;
- have knowledge of the Lasers and Photodetectors;
- know well the sources of noise and nonlinearity in optical communications;
- have a good understanding of optical filters and optical communication networks;
- be familiar with Multichannel optical systems and be able to analyse WDM networks;
- be able to design a point-to-point optical communications link using Simulation tools.
Syllabus
- Review of the basics of physical optics
- Optical fibres and optical waveguides, propagation in multimode and single-mode fibres, propagation in conducting and dielectric waveguides, free-space optical communications
- Optical transmitters
- Lasers
- Photodetectors and optical receivers
- Optical Amplifiers
- Sources of Noise and Nonlinearity in Optical Communications
- Dispersion in optical communication systems
- Optical Filters
- Multichannel systems, WDM, TDM and CDM
- Optical Link Design
- Optical communication network
Module code: 7CCSMRVA
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
The aim of this course is to familiarise students with the fundamentals of probability theory and random variables, and to help them appreciate and understand the application of this important mathematical tool to more advanced topics related to continuous and discrete-time random processes and filtering.
At the end of the course students should be able to:
- identify and formulate fundamental probability distribution and density functions, as well as functions of random variables;
- explain the concepts of expectation and conditional expectation, and describe their properties;
- understand and analyse continuous and discrete-time random processes;
- explain the concepts of stationarity and wide-sense stationarity, and appreciate their significance;
- employ the theory of stochastic processes to analyse linear systems;
- apply the above knowledge to solve basic problems in filtering, prediction and smoothing.
Syllabus
- Review of probability theory: Conditional probability and independence, random variables, probability distribution and density, function of random variables, expectation, independence, conditional expectation and its properties
- Random processes: Continuous and discrete-time random processes, correlation function and power spectrum, Gaussian and Poisson processes, continuity of random processes, differentiation and integration, stationarity and wide-sense stationarity, white noise, ergodicity
- Systems with stochastic inputs: Transfer functions, response of linear systems to Gaussian inputs, input-output relationships, power spectral density of the output process
- Mean square estimation: Filtering, prediction, and smoothing
Module code: 7CCSMTN1
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
The aim of the course is to provide an introduction to the principles of telecommunication networks architectures; the technical vocabulary of telecommunications networks; and technical problems in telecommunications networks: analysis and solutions. The course will serve as a basis for further advanced topics in telecommunication networks and the Internet.
This course provides background in the area of computer and telecommunication networking by introducing the concept of standards and layering and going through the layered architecture of the TCP/IP protocol stack and studying in detail the operations of example protocols at each layer.
Syllabus
- Network protocols: architectures, standards, and the TCP/IP protocol stack
- Physical layer: digital encoding and decoding techniques, transmission media
- Data link layer: synchronisation, flow control, error control, HDLC
- Local area networks (LANs): Aloha, S-Aloha, CSMA protocols, Ethernet, token ring, FDDI, wireless LANs, connecting devices (bridges and repeaters)
- Wide area networks: circuit switching and packet switching, X.25
- Routing in packet switching networks: routing requirements and criteria, Dijkastra and Bellman Ford algorithms
- Network layer: IPv4 operation including addressing and fragmentation, IPv6
- Transport protocols: UDP, TCP including congestion control
Module code: 7CCSMTN2
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 15
Assessment:
written examination/s; coursework;
The aim of the course is to provide comprehensive knowledge of different architectural and technical aspects of current and future interworking pure IP-based networks. The course will reflect state-of-the-art efforts towards the Wireless Internet (r)evolution, which is the current driver of research efforts in both academia and R&D sectors in industry.
This course provides a background in the area of computer and communications networking (focusing on wireless networks). The course covers MAC, IP and transport layer issues for IP-based networks, along with in depth theoretical analysis and practical aspects of networking.
Syllabus
- MAC Protocols: Random Access and Contention techniques, MAC protocols for LAN's, ALOHA and Slotted ALOHA, CSMA systems, including non-persistent, p-persistent CSMA/CD, the IEEE 802 protocols, Ethernet, token bus and token ring systems, FDDI;
- Routing Algorithms: Routing Objectives and Algorithms in packet switched networks, Routing methodology in ARPANET, LAN Architectures;
- Internet Architecture–TCP: A brief history of the Internet, the Internet backbone, the Internet Protocol, IPv4 Datagram, Fragmentation and Re-assembly, Classful IP Addressing, Subnetting, DNS, Internet Routing - BGP, RIP, OSPF; IPv6-IPv6 and IPv4 Interoperation;
- TCP Mechanisms (Slow Start, Congestion Avoidance, Fast Retransmit, Fast Recovery);
- TCP over Wireless Networks: TCP variants and analysis of their performance over wireless network;
- Mobile IP and QoS Architectures for the Internet: Solutions for Macro-Mobility; Integrated Services, Differentiated Services;
- Network Simulator
ACADEMIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
General entry advice
Second class honours degree in electronics, electrical engineering, computer science, applied mathematics or physics.
APPLYING TO KING'S
To apply for graduate study at King's you will need to complete our graduate online application form. Applying online makes applying easier and quicker for you, and means we can receive your application faster and more securely.
King's does not normally accept paper copies of the graduate application form as applications must be made online. However, if you are unable to access the online graduate application form, please contact the relevant admissions/School Office at King's for advice.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Your application will be reviewed by an admissions tutor and we aim to respond to your application within four to six weeks, although this may take longer during busy and holiday periods.
PERSONAL STATEMENT & SUPPORTING INFORMATION
Please include transcripts of subjects taken in the relevant degrees and copies of all certificates and relevant qualifications mentioned in your application.
FUNDING
Students are self-funded.
Related programme student profile
Mobile & Personal Communications MScI am happy to write about my experience as a student on the master's programme in Personal & Mobile Communications which I undertook as a part-time student from 2009-2011. My reason for choosing King's College London was the high reputation of the institute and the many positive reviews on their website.
The course was well planned and I found its structure to be very helpful. It was possible to fit in the different modules while I was working part-time to finance my tuition fees. The facilities are made of great, attractive lecture theatres and I was always able to find space to study. The location being so central meant I could get there easily by public transport. Pastoral care was a high priority.
I now feel well resourced to apply for jobs that my master's programme has prepared me for. In fact I hope to recoup my fees in a short period. I would advise any future students who are keen to enhance their career prospects to apply to King's. I made good friends and will continue to network with them.