A Holistic Virtual Laboratory on Wireless Communications and Sensor Networks

Virtual laboratories have evolved into an adequately mature educational tool for multiple fields of study. Their use is especially beneficial to hot and volatile topics such as modern wireless communications. Related solutions in this field explored various approaches and architectures in designing such a virtual environment. The presented software package combines these fragmentary conclusions to a holistic and extensible laboratory architecture. Classic and modern topics, such as propagation, green networking, indoor communications and sensor networks are discussed through interactive 2D/3D environments. Field measurements and ray tracing principles were used for validating the simulations. Statistical assessment in the context of a postgraduate course in wireless communications demonstrates the educational benefits of the approach.