ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC ENGINEERING

The comprehensive study of high-frequency transmission lines, including stripline, microstripline, differential microstriplines and differential striplines configuration is ritical for advanced RF and microwave engineering education. Fundamentals of some transmission line phenomenon such as impedance matching, reflection coefficient and the effect of open and short circuits, relies greatly on practical hands-on experience alongside theoretical tools like the Smith chart. Furthermore, many academic institutions face challenges in providing laboratory systems that accurately represent high-frequency transmission line structures on common PCB substrates such as FR4. The absence of versatile and cost-effective experimental circuits limits students’ opportunities to explore and solve real-world transmission line problems, thereby hindering the development of essential engineering skills. This project aims to develop an integrated high-frequency transmission line experimentation systems for university laboratories, incorporating stripline, microstripline, differential microstriplines and differential striplines configuration on FR4 substrates. The system will facilitate direct measurement and analysis of transmission line behavior, enabling students to visualize various experiments, and investigate the proposed applications (e.g. open and short circuit effects, s-parameters, transmission line as a filter etc.) within a controlled environment. By linking theoretical concepts with practical experiments, specifically through the application of Smith chart and transmission line theory, this system will enhance RF engineering education, equipping students with the competence needed to address modern communication system challenges effectively.

The relevance of communication in our world today cannot be overemphasized. This project is thus aimed at designing and implementing a GSM Network using OpenBTS software paired with an SDR (Software-defined Radio), imitating the GSM Network as we know it. This setup can be used in small-scale operations and can solve the major issue of connectivity in rural areas such as villages and small towns. This arrangement involved a USRP B210 and OpenBTS software running on the Ubuntu 24.04 the latest version of the operating system - as of the time of writing. At the end, the network was launched, subscribers were registered on the test network, and they were able to send messages, which is a supported feature on the GSM Network.