RF engineer course

A strong understanding of RF engineering fundamentals is required to optimize the performance of cellular networks. This course presents the fundamentals of RF engineering for new engineers who need to be grounded in the fundamentals and existing engineers who need to fill in any gaps they may have in their understanding. This course illustrates the network architecture and highlights the importance of several aspects of RF engineering. The RF propagation mechanisms that affect the RF signal path from the transmitter to the receiver are discussed. Coverage is discussed using the link budget examples for 2G and 3G systems. Traffic engineering is described from the perspective of Erlang-B and backhaul provisioning. Deployments of GSM and CDMA/WCDMA/EV-DO networks are considered. Finally, tools useful for network planning/design, deployment, and optimization are reviewed.