Software-defined radio: a new paradigm for integrated curriculum delivery

Software-defined radio is a rapidly developing field that is driving the development of and innovation in communications technology, and promises to significantly impact all communications sectors. Entities developing these SDR systems require a trained workforce that has been prepared with the mindset, knowledge, skills, and tools required to address both the system (breadth) and technical (depth) aspects of SDR systems. Developing SDRs necessarily involves a collection of disciplines including, but not limited to, electromagnetics, radio-frequency engineering, communications, digital signal processing, embedded systems, computer programming, and systems engineering. Whereas electrical engineering and computer science and engineering curricula at the university level may include courses in all of these areas, a student´s typical curriculum does not; nor does it usually involve the integration of all these topics. However, SDR can be employed as an integrative construct that facilitates systems thinking and cross-domain learning via peers. In this article, we present several significant educational efforts across six U.S. universities that have developed integrated curricula in SDR, most including a significant laboratory component.