DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS LEARNING TOOLS gtTAL: Graphical Tool for Testbed-assisted Learning

José A. García-Naya, Héctor J. Pérez-Iglesias, Adriana Dapena, Miguel González-López

2010

Abstract

We introduce gtTAL, a graphical tool implemented on top of a distributed multilayer architecture which is specifically suitable for multiple-antenna hardware testbeds. gtTAL helps in teaching digital communications by allowing interaction with the hardware testbed at an abstraction level suitable for undergraduate students. Instead of using the low-level interfaces provided by hardware manufacturers, the multilayer software architecture supplies a high level interface access for testbeds, releasing students from the necessity of knowing low-level details of the hardware to start to practice with it. Therefore, they can easily test algorithms without developing a new program from scratch, speeding up the time needed for both the implementation and the debugging tasks. Indeed, the multilayer software architecture allows learning how to deal with real-world digital communication systems at different abstraction levels, varying from the lowest level software running in real-time in DSPs or FPGAs, to the highest level software like gtTAL. These three elements: hardware testbed, multilayer software architecture and graphical tool (gtTAL), constitutes what we termed testbed-assisted learning.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

A. García-Naya J., J. Pérez-Iglesias H., Dapena A. and González-López M. (2010). DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS LEARNING TOOLS gtTAL: Graphical Tool for Testbed-assisted Learning . In Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU, ISBN 978-989-674-023-8, pages 419-426. DOI: 10.5220/0002784904190426

in Bibtex Style

@conference{csedu10,
author={José A. García-Naya and Héctor J. Pérez-Iglesias and Adriana Dapena and Miguel González-López},
title={DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS LEARNING TOOLS gtTAL: Graphical Tool for Testbed-assisted Learning},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,},
year={2010},
pages={419-426},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0002784904190426},
isbn={978-989-674-023-8},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU,
TI - DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS LEARNING TOOLS gtTAL: Graphical Tool for Testbed-assisted Learning
SN - 978-989-674-023-8
AU - A. García-Naya J.
AU - J. Pérez-Iglesias H.
AU - Dapena A.
AU - González-López M.
PY - 2010
SP - 419
EP - 426
DO - 10.5220/0002784904190426