Building a web platform for learning advanced digital communications using a MIMO testbed

Society demands access to high capacity wireless communications and to the services that can be provided on top of them. To satisfy these demands, engineers are constantly developing new technologies. These developments have to be selectively transferred to the university curricula. The student has to be familiar not only with the basic theory and techniques, but also with those of the more advanced techniques that provide a more profound insight. One of these techniques is based on Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) systems. In this paper we show how to build a web platform for learning advanced digital communications based on a MIMO testbed. Using as starting point a 4 × 4 flexible dual band (2.4/5 GHz), we first develop a webservice interface to provide remote access to the services offered by the testbed and then implement a virtual laboratory where the students can parameterize and perform advanced experiments.