CyberPowder Fellows Program (2026) - public
Public copy of CyberPowder Fellows 2026 Program
Background/Reading material:
- The Missing Semester of Your CS Education (MSCS)
- Private 5G: A Systems Approach (P5G-SA)
- The POWDER Manual (TPM)
- The mistaken axioms of wireless-network research
Activity:
- Lecture: L
- Hands-on (in class): HO
- Homework: HW
- Demo: D
- Research assignments: R
Instructors:
- Kobus Van der Merwe (KV)
- Neal Patwari (NP)
- Kirk Webb (KW)
- Dustin Maas (DM)
- Robert Ricci (RR)
- David Johnson (DJ)
Class schedule:
| # | Date | Topic | Preparation | Activity |
| 1 | 1/9/2026 |
Overview, POWDER Concepts & Workflow, Basic POWDER experiment |
TPM: Chapter 1, Chapter 2 and Chapter 4. HO1 Part1 is due before class |
L: Program Overview; L: POWDER Overview; HO1 (Spectrum monitoring): Part1 |
| 2 | 1/16/2026 |
POWDER Workflow Essentials |
Please complete the Pre-survey assignment. MSCS: Course overview + the shell, Shell tools and scripting, and the "Remote Machines" section of Command line environment. TPM: Chapter 6, and Chapter 9. Windows Users: Install the git-bash environment. |
L (KW): POWDER Workflow Essentials HO2 (The Shell and SSH) |
| 3 | 1/23/2026 |
Advanced POWDER workflow concepts and profiles in depth |
TPM: Chapter 7, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Section 14.1 MSCS: Version Control (Git) |
L (KW): Advanced POWDER workflow concepts and profiles in depth HO3 (Git-backed profiles) |
| 4 | 1/30/2026 |
Radio channels: Antennas, signals, path loss, channels, multipath ( Lecture Notes ) |
Read P5G-SAa Chapter 3 Intro and 3.1. Watch 5 videos in this playlist: 1) Signals, Power, and Energy (7:10); 2) I'm Adding dB to this Course (10:45); 3) Received Power Models (15:59); 4) Why do Bad Fades Happen to Good Channels? (6:43); 5) 6 Things About Antennas (4:32) |
Discussion / Q&A HO: Path Loss Lab |
| 5 | 2/6/2026 | Digital Communications (Modulation & Demodulation, QAM / PSK) ( Lecture Notes ) |
Watch 3-7 videos (optional videos for those unfamiliar with digital communications):
|
|
| 6 | 2/13/2026 | OFDM | Watch 2 videos: |
|
| 7 | 2/20/2026 |
Mobile Radio Access Network & Mobile Core |
Read: |
Before class: HO7 (E2E 5G) - Part 1 (before class), HO7 (E2E 5G) - Part2 (before class) |
| 8 | 2/27/2026 | Research Evaluation, & Artifact Creation | ||
| 9 | 3/6 | Research support #1 | R1: Initial research idea/plan is due on Saturday. (slides) | |
| 3/13 | No class | |||
| 10 | 3/20 |
Spectrum Management |
Read:
|
HO8 - Spectrum Management - Part 1 (before class) HO8 - Spectrum Management - Part 2 (in class/at home) |
| 11 | 3/27 | Research support #2 | ||
| 12 | 4/3 |
O-RAN #1 |
Read:
|
HO9 (O-RAN): Part 1 (before class) |
| 13 | 4/10 |
O-RAN #2 |
Read:
|
L10: O-RAN + ML (DM) (slides) (board) |
| 14 | 4/17 |
O-RAN #3 |
Read:
|
|
| 15 | 4/24 | Research support #3 | R2: Updated research idea/plan and R3: Information related to in-person exploration due on Monday 4/20! | |
| 4/27-5/1 | In-person Week |
Course Summary:
| Date | Details | Due |
|---|---|---|