Empowering a Broadband Communications Course with a Unified Module on 5G and Fixed 5G Networks

Abstract

Telecommunications profoundly impacts all major aspects of our everyday life. As a consequence, student instruction typically includes a series of specialized courses, each addressing a distinct telecommunication area, separating wireless from fixed (optical) communications. This creates the problem of knowledge fragmentation, hindering the student’s perception of the topic since, at the service level, the applications and services offered to the users seem “virtually” independent from the underlying infrastructure. In this paper, to address this problem, we designed, analyzed, and implemented a 6 h course module on the five generations of wireless and fixed networks, which was presented as an integral part of the undergraduate course “Broadband Communications”, which was offered at the Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE), Athens, Greece. The main targets of this module are the following. Firstly, it aims to familiarize students with the fixed generations taxonomy, defined by the ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG) F5G. This taxonomy serves as a foundation for understanding the evolution of telecommunications technologies. Secondly, the module seeks to integrate the acquired knowledge of the students in their previous telecommunication-related courses. During their curriculum, this knowledge was divided into two separate parts: wireless and fixed (optical). By coupling these two areas, students can develop a deeper understanding of the field. Lastly, the module aims to explore cutting-edge technologies and advancements in the telecommunications industry. In this way, it prepares students to enter the professional world during the fifth-generation era. Additionally, it provides them with valuable insights into the ongoing research and development in the field of 6G. Overall, this module serves as a comprehensive platform for students to enhance their understanding of telecommunications, from the foundational concepts to the latest advancements. To evaluate the impact of this module, the students were asked to fill out a questionnaire that included seven questions upon module completion. This questionnaire was completed successfully by 32 students in the previous academic year and by 16 students in this academic year. Moreover, a 20-question multiple choice quiz was offered to the students, allowing us to probe more into the typical errors and misconceptions about the topic.

1. Introduction

As the deployment of more bandwidth-demanding applications is underway, the total traffic originating from access networks is scaling with over 50% Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR), pushing the overall telecom/datacom networks’ needs to ever-higher rates and capacities, and lower latency requirements. These needs push network operators and service providers towards the widespread deployment and adoption of the technologies and innovations of the fifth generation of wireless communications (5G) and the fifth generation of fixed networks (F5G), as well as participate in discussions regarding the sixth generation of wireless networks (6G) standardization, that aims to offer more demanding use case families and services [1,2,3,4]. Towards these targets, various EU-funded 6G initiatives have already begun, especially under the umbrella of the 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA). In this fast-evolving world, a thorough understanding of the major technologies, standards, available services, and their requirements is a must for telecommunications professionals, particularly teachers in technological schools, workshop instructors, and general educators in the Information Technology (IT) sector.

Telecommunications, being a broad subject in modern university curricula, is often taught through a series of specialized courses, each addressing a distinct telecommunication area. Though such an approach has the advantage of providing a more specialized, in-depth presentation of each topic, it may result in knowledge fragmentation, a lack of a cohesive understanding of telecommunication principles and ideas, and misunderstandings. To address this issue, either a telecommunication course (ideally at an early stage of the syllabus) might contain a coherent presentation of the telecommunication topic [5], or the syllabus could be designed in an appropriate modular fashion (e.g., as described in [6]). To improve students’ conceptual understanding, a unified approach could be applied to more specific issues, such as determining the feasibility of a telecom link (either wireless or fiber-optic) based on attenuation and possibly dispersion considerations, integrating electronics and fiber optics, analyzing transmission lines using electromagnetic and circuit theory, and so on [7,8,9,10]. Another example of the necessity for a unified analysis is data exchange via the Internet, which typically uses more than one transmission media, such as a wireless channel, optical fiber, or copper cable. Furthermore, the services and apps that process and provide this data to consumers may be accessible via a variety of platforms, including personal computers, cell phones, laptops, and so on. For this purpose, the app/service layer is independent of the type of device and the underlying infrastructure, and a decoupled approach for the presentation of the wireless and fixed networks will hinder the student’s perception of the topic.

In this work, we aim to address this problem and further enhance the cognitive skills of teachers in technological schools by designing and implementing a curriculum module that integrates 5G and F5G in a cohesive manner, aligning with the evolutionary timeline of wireless and fixed networks. The approach involves dividing the 5G/F5G network into three layers—the app/service layer, the network layer, and the physical layer—in a layered fashion. This method consolidates a wide range of current standards and technologies into a structured format with fewer layers and groups, simplifying the engineering process and outlining the key innovations and constraints of each generation from multiple perspectives, thus facilitating the overall learning process [4]. In addition, the unification of fixed and wireless networks underpins the common app/service layer, which offers various services and applications to the end users, and it is now, in essence, virtually independent from the underlying access infrastructure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that 5G and F5G are presented in a unified manner to students, as the standardization of technologies and the terminology within fixed networks is currently in progress, having commenced in 2020 [1].

The proposed module is an integral part of the “Broadband Communications” course offered in the ninth semester at the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering Educators, School of Pedagogical and Technological Education (ASPETE), Athens, Greece. Its duration is six hours and it serves as the final module of the “Broadband Communications” course. The learning objectives of this module fall under the fourth category of Marzano and Kendall’s taxonomy [11]. These objectives aim to: (a) spark the students to generate and test hypotheses about telecommunication systems, e.g., regarding their operation, (b) develop novel strategies to reach goals under challenging conditions of network operation, e.g., via using different network architectures, and (c) address specific problems via selecting among various alternatives, e.g., access standards. It is also worth pointing out that the curriculum of the “Broadband Communications” courses in other universities focuses mainly on multimedia applications and technologies, access standards, Internet of Things applications, TCP/IP model, broadband television, radio systems, and network operations to ensure user’s Quality of Experience (QoE), the physical layer, e.g., principles of digital transmission, signal propagation, etc. The module proposed here is one out of a few that, in addition to these topics, incorporates 5G topics in its curriculum, and to the best of our knowledge, it is the only “Broadband Communications” course that discusses 6G.

Upon the module’s completion, the students were asked to fill out a questionnaire consisting of seven questions, which (a) allowed us to study the impact of this module on the students’ knowledge, (b) offered them the opportunity to highlight the most exciting topics, not only in this module but also of the whole “Broadband Communications” course, and (c) empowered them to suggest further subjects for the next academic year. In total, 48 students filled in the questionnaire, 32 in the previous academic year and 16 students in this academic year. The examination of these surveys clearly indicated the positive impact of this module on the students’ cognitive skills, which is the major outcome of this study. In addition, 20 multiple-choice questions were offered to the students to evaluate their obtained knowledge and reveal possible misconceptions.

This work is an extended version of [12], and the novel parts compared with [12] are the following:

• (a). The learning material offered to the students is elaborated more and is enriched to include the first results and outcomes regarding how 6G is shaping over its first seven years (2017–2023).

• (b). The same questionnaires were also provided to the students of the current academic year to validate the outcomes of this study further.

• (c). The students were offered a 20-question multiple-choice quiz to evaluate their acquired knowledge, which was analyzed to point out possible difficulties and misconceptions about the topics of this module.

2. Approach and Learning Objectives

2.1. Methodology

In this sub-section, we analyze the 5G/F5G module along with its learning objectives. The study material provided to the students included:

• (i). A set of slides that were presented during the 6 h (in total) lectures; the synchronous part of the module;

• (ii). Proposed research works for further reading [1,4,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21], that was exploited to enhance students’ knowledge of the topic; the asynchronous part of the module;

• (iii). Set of 20 multiple-choice questions (Appendix B) to reinforce the concepts taught in the lectures, which also made students allocate more time to this subject; the asynchronous part of the module.

The study materials of the module were incorporated into four sections, as follows:

• ○. Section A: a timeline of evolution and relation with Industrial Revolutions.

• ○. Section B: the service categories of 5G/F5G and 6G networks.

• ○. Section C: a layered approach for the different standards and technologies.

• ○. Section D: a business model of 5G and F5G.

The main elements and learning objectives of the module’s four sections are presented in Section 2.1.1, Section 2.1.2, Section 2.1.3 and Section 2.1.4.

2.1.1. Section A: Timeline of Evolution and Relation with Industrial Revolutions

In the first section, the timeline of the evolution of modern telecommunications and its interconnection with the industrial revolutions was presented. In particular, we pointed out that modern telecommunications are a direct child of the Second Industrial Revolution, which commenced with the deployment of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), in the second half of the 19th century. The third Industrial Revolution led to great advances in electronics and the introduction of new services, especially Internet services, exerting a profound impact on the way people communicate, work, and live. Nowadays, we have already entered the fourth Industrial Revolution (I4.0), which leads to the convergence of various processes, like fixed/wireless communication, computing, and sensing, into a single network entity. A deep understanding of this timeline is essential for all students in the fields of electrical and electronic engineering, in order to understand their position, role, and impact on modern society. The timeline of evolution offered to the students is pictorially described in Figure 1.

In this section, the main learning objective was developing a deeper understanding of the evolutionary process of modern telecommunications, its interrelation with industry, and the future trends of key requirements, such as transported capacity per fiber, bit rate per channel/antenna, spectrum usage, and latency.

2.1.2. Section B: Service Categories of 5G/F5G and 6G Networks

The 5G/F5G module started from the evolution of services over the first five fixed network generations (F1G–F5G) to enable a deeper understanding of the key drivers underlying their evolution. In order to achieve this objective, the study concentrated on the essential service prerequisites by employing a dialectical approach. This approach emphasized that the constraints faced by each generation are transformed into innovative features for the next generation. In particular, the study highlighted the stringent demands imposed on service and network providers to guarantee seamless service operation throughout the entire service’s lifecycle. These demands encompassed high data rates, low latency, and dense connectivity. Furthermore, the study examined the evolution of these requirements over the course of the last five decades. In the current academic year’s module (2023–2024), 6G services and their requirements were also included according to the relevant literature and Deliverable 2.1 of the EC-funded FLEX-SCALE project, which is publicly available [22]. According to this work, the 5G/F5G services can be classified into three categories based on three key requirements, namely low latency, high bit rate, and high connection density, only one of which needs to be met in each category. However, 6G/F6G service classes are more demanding compared to 5G/F5G services, as they may demand from the network to satisfy more than one requirement. As a consequence, four new service classes are emerging and illustrated in Figure 2. From the seven categories in total, three mandate that only one of these three requirements be met in order to operate without disruptions, and are named Enhanced Fiber Broadband (eFBB), Full Fiber Connection (FFC), and Guaranteed Reliable Experience (GRE) in fixed networks, and enhanced Mobile Networks (eMBB), Machine Type Communication (MTC), and Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), as equivalents in wireless networks [13,17]. The main key requirements that need to be satisfied during the entire service lifecycle in the three categories mentioned above are high bit rate, high densification, and low latency. Further, three more categories require a combination of the above three key requirements and are named Full Fiber Broadband Connection (FFBC), with the equivalent in wireless networks, the ubiquitous Mobile Broadband (uMBB), requiring both high fiber density and high bit rate; Guaranteed Reliable Fiber Broadband (GRFB), with the equivalent in wireless networks being Ultra-reliable Low-latency Broadband Communication (ULBC), requiring both low latency and high bit rate; and Guaranteed Reliable Full Fiber Experience (GRFFE), requiring both high fiber density and low latency, with the equivalent in wireless networks, Massive Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (mULC). It is important to mention that some services may require all three key requirements to be met concurrently, as they need to collect bandwidth-consuming signals and data (e.g., video) from various network points in order to process them in real-time and inform the respective element, in order to make a decision. Indicative services for this category, named Full Fiber Guaranteed Reliable Broadband (FFGRB), are ultra-smart ports, airports, and railways.

This section is of paramount importance for the understanding of the unification of fixed and wireless networks, as in 5G/F5G, and especially in 6G/F6G, the services offered to the users seem virtually independent from the underlying access network infrastructure, fixed (optical) or wireless.

The main learning objectives of this section were (a) the introduction of the students to the fixed generations taxonomy, the definition of which is assigned to the currently formed ETSI Industry Specification Group (ISG), (b) the understanding that the five generations of wireless networks and five generations of fixed networks are two sides of the same coin, (c) the more profound understanding of the main limitations and novelties of each generation, as well as (d) the more profound understanding of the leading service categories, their classification based on their requirements, and the understanding that these are the main driving forces behind the network evolution.

2.1.3. Section C: Layered Approach for the Different Standards and Technologies

In the third section, we adopted a layered approach for the examination of the first five generations of both fixed and wireless networks from three different perspectives, namely the service perspective, the networking perspective, and the physical layer perspective [4]. We emphasized that each of the three layers has specific objectives in order to serve the end users seamlessly. In particular, the physical layer aims to enhance the capacity and reach of transmission. Subsequently, the network layer is tasked with enhancing connectivity and decreasing latency, to achieve adequate Quality of Service (QoS). Finally, the app/service layer aims to maximize the user’s QoE. Figure 3 illustrates the key services, standards, characteristics, novelties, and limitations of the first five generations from three different perspectives, namely the app/service perspective, the networking perspective, and the physical layer perspective, adopting a layered approach. This approach was followed mainly for three reasons. First, a layered analysis minimizes the overall complexity by neatly categorizing the numerous current standards and technologies into a limited number of groupings. Second, it allows for modular engineering, which simplifies teaching and learning. Last, but not least, it seeks to describe the primary limits and innovations of each generation from a variety of perspectives. Finally, each of the three levels has certain goals in order to serve the end user effectively and efficiently. In essence, the approach we followed in this module for the five generations is dialectical since it follows an evolutionary path; that is, the limits of one generation become the novelty of the next generation. In this way, the constraints of each layer for each generation become more evident.

In this section, the main learning objectives were (a) a deeper understanding of the standardization procedure, e.g., the need to adopt standards and the standards that are used today, (b) a deeper understanding of the rate of evolution for each layer and for each generation, (c) the examination of the state-of-the-art technologies used today, paving the way for the students to enter as professionals into the fifth-generation era, and (d) the limitations and novelties of each generation for the wider understanding the burdens that each generation poses to the services’ evolution.

2.1.4. Section D: Business Model of 5G and F5G

The final section of the module discussed the business model of 5G/F5G. In particular, it outlined the primary service categories, goals, and target users for each category, as well as the market size and growth rate forecasts, which are presented in [23] and tabulated in Table 1. The network and service providers that will invest in the F5G will acquire a larger share of the continuously increasing digital economy, which is expected to rise to USD 23 trillion by 2025. As it is evident, Virtual Reality (VR), smart homes, social networking applications, and cloud desktops will grow at a very high rate, however, various other categories of services are expected to expand, ever at a slower pace, while others are expected to emerge during this decade.

In this section, the main learning objectives were (a) a deeper understanding of the reasons behind which some services and technologies prevail while others fail to be adopted and (b) the understanding of the economic prospects of forward-looking categories of services, such as digital twin, virtual reality, smart infrastructure, etc.

2.2. Evaluation Routine

In prior articles, the questionnaires have been exploited to assess the impact of research methods in engineering courses in [24,25,26], offering a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of the course modules as they allow the capturing of the students’ perspectives. Moreover, they can be used to collect any possible comments or suggestions that the students may have. The questionnaire developed for the purposes of this study consisted of seven questions, which can be found in Appendix A. The initial three questions were designed to assess the subjective impact of the module by prompting students to evaluate (i) their level of knowledge, (ii) the significance, and (iii) their potential for further involvement in 5G/F5G topics, both before and after the course’s completion. The fourth question required students to indicate if the module had a specific influence on them. The fifth and sixth questions asked students to identify the topics they found most interesting within this module and the entire “Broadband Communications” course. In the final question, the students were free to add topics of their interest that they would like to be further analyzed in the next academic year. Overall, 32 students completed the questionnaire in the previous academic year (2022–2023). Special care was taken to ensure that all engaged students filled out the questionnaire, in an attempt to collect the representation of all different opinions.

In the current academic year (2023–2024), 16 students filled in a questionnaire that included all but the sixth question, as the questionnaire was given to the students prior to course completion. Moreover, another option was added to the fifth question. This option is as follows: “How the research around 6G is shaping”, and aims to examine the potential impact of the 6G subsection on the students.

To probe more deeply into the students’ most frequent misconceptions and typical errors regarding the topics of this module, a 20-question multiple-choice quiz was provided. This quiz included questions about the service categories, their requirements, and the capabilities of the fifth and sixth generation of fixed and wireless networks. The quiz, along with the correct answers, is tabulated in Appendix B.

Finally, after the completion of the lectures, and to enhance the students’ understanding of the topics, the students were asked to select one topic falling under the umbrella of 5/6G to write a 2–4 page assignment (in the form of a two-column paper) and present it to their classmates in a dedicated presentation for this purpose day (each presentation allocated in a 15 min timeslot). The assignment was optional, and it did not negatively impact the students’ overall grades. In total, 32 students presented their assignments in both academic years.

3. Integration with the Degree Curriculum

In this section, we analyze the main topics of the “Broadband Communications” course, as well as the main topics and learning objectives of the other four telecommunications-related courses in order to better understand the interrelation of the candidate module with the other course modules. The “5G and Fixed 5G Networks” module is part of the “Broadband Communications” course at ASPETE, located in Athens, Greece. Graduates of this department can be employed either as teachers in technological high schools or as Electrical/Electronic engineers. As a topic, broadband communications, along with the courses Telecommunication Systems, Optical Communications, Wireless Communications, and Computer Networks, form what can be considered the “telecom” subset of an electronic engineer’s syllabus [5].

3.1. Connection with Other Modules of the “Broadband Communications” Course

The Broadband Communications course includes the following topics in a full 13-week curriculum (two lectures of two hours each, per week):

• An introductory module (one week). Its main learning objective is to introduce students to multimedia telecommunications services and key technologies of broadband communication networks and to highlight the importance of broadband communications, its degree of penetration, and its impact on everyday life.

• Various multi-layer models, such as TCP/IP standard and Broadband Integrated Services Digital Network (B-ISDN), and Protocol Reference Model (PRM) (three weeks). In this module, the main learning objective is a deeper understanding of encapsulation and the need for multi-layer models. In addition, the main protocols of the TCP/IP stack are presented to revise the knowledge acquired during the Computer Networks course.

• Various key access technologies (four weeks). The main objectives of this module are set to introduce the students to the main access technologies, as well as their rollout roadmap, beginning from the use of PSTN for data transmission, to Narrowband Integrated Services Digital Network (N-ISDN) and B-ISDN, to Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), and Passive Optical Network (PON), which were the leading technologies that prevailed in Europe over the past fifty years. The presentation procedure regarding the different standards/technologies is dialectical, as it follows an evolutionary manner; that is, the limitations of each standard/technology become the novelties of the next one.

• Various key core technologies (two weeks). The main objective of this module is to introduce the students to the main core technologies in order to develop a deeper understanding of the various terminology/procedures of telecommunications, such as transmission, modulation, encoding, error correction, multiplexing, switching, routing, forwarding, and transporting. Three standards are presented in this module: the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), the Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET)/Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH), and the Metro Ethernet.

• Physical layer impairments and a link feasibility study (one and a half weeks). In this module, the main objectives are to understand the impact of attenuation via its analytical estimation, to determine the scalability of the number of users in PON based on specific transceiver details (e.g., transmitted power, receiver sensitivity), and to define the maximum transmission length.

• A unified course module on 5G and F5G networks (one and a half weeks). In this module, the students are introduced to the classification of the five generations of networks, with a special emphasis on 5G and F5G. In addition, the main drivers of a network’s evolution are analyzed, including the development of new services. The basic business model of 5G/F5G is also presented.

3.2. Connection with Other Telecommunication Courses

It is worth mentioning that, in the “telecom” subset, the students obtain a solid knowledge regarding the physical and network layers and major telecommunications standards as they attend relevant courses, such as Telecommunication Systems, Optical Communications, Wireless Communications, and Computer Networks. To further understand the relation between the “Broadband Communications” course and the other four telecommunication courses, we briefly present their content as well as their main learning objectives:

• Telecommunication Systems (5th Semester). The purpose of the course is to familiarize the students with the basic concepts and techniques related to telecommunications transmission, telecommunications networks, and telecommunications services. Upon completion of the course, students will have (a) the general picture of the wider subject of telecommunications, (b) an understanding of the basic techniques of telecommunication transmission (digitization, modulation, multiplexing) with an emphasis on digital techniques, and (c) a “first acquaintance” with the main types of telecommunication links and the most basic telecommunication services.

• Optical Communications (6th Semester). The purpose of the course is to enable an understanding of the function of fiber optic elements and connections and enhance the ability to study and solve related problems. Upon completion of the course, students will have understood the following: (a) the operation of fiber optic elements (passive and active), (b) the structure and function of fiber optic links (conventional and WDM), as well as (c) the principles for their study and design.

• Wireless Communications (8th Semester). In this course, the theoretical and technological aspects of wireless communications are presented. In particular, during this course, the students (a) examine the physical principles that govern the operation of wireless links, modules, and sub-systems and (b) understand the design methodology of wireless links, the services that can be provided via wireless couplings, the technologies applied to mobile communications (with emphasis on digital cellular telephony), the principles on which their design and operation of mobile communication systems are based on, and the possibilities and range of services that can be provided via mobile communications networks.

• Computer Networks (8th Semester). The purpose of the course is to present basic issues in the field of data communications so that students become familiar with basic concepts of communications and computer networks. Upon completion of the course, students will have acquired the appropriate theoretical and practical knowledge so that they have the ability to: (a) distinguish between different network topologies, networking, and routing techniques as well as the various communication protocols, (b) meet the requirements of modern design trends and computer network support, and (c) solve practical problems in network applications.

In general, in all five telecommunications courses, the students obtained a solid knowledge of the basic telecommunications topics. More specifically, the Telecommunication Systems course is classified into the first two categories of Marzano and Kendall’s taxonomy [11], with the Optical Communications, Wireless Communications, and Computer Networks courses in the first three categories. Finally, the “Broadband Communications” course is extended over the four categories of Marzano and Kendall’s taxonomy [11], while the 5G/F5G module, based on its learning objectives, can be classified mainly in the fourth category.

4. Results

4.1. Students’ Feedback

4.1.1. Impact of Unified 5G/F5G Module

From the first question, an attempt was made to assess the prior knowledge of the students and their acquired knowledge after completing the module, followed by a quantitative comparison. The percentage distribution of students’ responses to the question “How would you rate your knowledge on the subject 5G-F5G?” is depicted in Figure 4. Prior to this module, during the previous academic year (2022–2023), 4 out of 32 students were unaware of the terms 5G/F5G, 20 out of 32 students lacked a strong understanding, and the remaining eight students possessed only a limited amount of knowledge. None of the students had a significant level of knowledge. After the completion of the module, 30 out of 32 students had either a limited (60%) or substantial understanding (35%) of 5G/F5G. Prior to this module, in the academic year 2023–2024, only 1 out of 16 students had not heard anything about 5G/F5G, 8 out of 16 students had no solid knowledge of these terms, and the remaining seven students had a little or a sufficient amount of knowledge. After the completion of the module, all 16 students had little (50%) or sufficient knowledge (50%) about the 5G/F5G, which is a very encouraging outcome. Overall, we can observe that 29 students out of 32 of the previous academic year, and 13 students out of 16 of this academic year, improved their knowledge status after the module. Overall, the positive impact of the module is validated in both academic years, despite the fact that in the current academic year, a higher percentage of students had higher knowledge about the aforementioned topics before the module, which is expected, as the students were exposed in the 5/6G topics for one extra year.

From the second question, an attempt was made to delve into the significance of 5G/F5G concepts, both prior to and post the course module. As illustrated in Figure 5, approximately 45% of the students of the previous academic year perceived the subject of 5G/F5G as having minimal or no importance prior to the module instruction. Subsequent to the module instruction, a notable 94% of students classified the module as highly significant. Of the students of the current academic year, only 13% considered the topic of 5G/F5G as of zero or small importance before the module instruction; however, after the module instruction, similar to the previous year, 94% of the students designated the module of high importance. This represents a significant result, demonstrating that nearly all students comprehended the significant influence of telecommunications on crucial aspects of daily life, like social and economic activities. Again, the students of the current academic year understood the importance of the 5/6G topics at a higher rate compared to the previous year due to the fact that they are exposed to the 5/6G topics for an additional year.

The primary aim of the third question was to study the influence of the course module on students’ subsequent academic endeavors, such as beginning a relevant thesis, continuing reading, or selecting a relevant postgraduate course. As depicted in Figure 6, seven out of eight students (87.5%) of the previous academic year had expressed little to no inclination towards engaging with the 5G/F5G topic prior to the course. After the course, the number of students dropped to about one-third, while the other two-thirds voted as likely to continue their engagement with the topic. According to the students’ responses during the current academic year, the majority (56%) declared that they found it unlikely or somewhat likely that they would engage with the 5G/F5G topic before the module. After the module, this number was reduced to 31%. Again, as with the previous two questions, the students of this academic year were more familiar with the 5/6G topics before this module compared with the students of the previous academic year. All three first questions designate that the knowledge of the students around these topics was increased, which is a very encouraging outcome.

According to the fourth question, students were required to assess the extent to which this specific module has shaped their perspective on the 5G-F5G subject. Analysis of Figure 7 reveals that over 90% of students from the previous academic year, and approximately 70% of students from the current academic year, acknowledged the substantial influence of this module on their opinion. These findings affirm the module’s high-level objectives and its ability to make a meaningful impact on students’ viewpoints. It is worth mentioning that the lower percentage of this academic year compared to the previous one can be attributed to the fact that the students of this year were more familiar with the 5/6G topics before the lesson, as it was also extracted from Question 1.

4.1.2. Topics of Interest

In the fifth question, students were tasked with choosing the most captivating features of the 5G/F5G module presented, and their choices are depicted in Figure 8. Analysis of this figure reveals that the subjects generating the most interest, according to the students’ feedback from the prior academic year, are those that the students are already well-acquainted with. These topics are the services offered by telecommunication networks, the five generations of wireless networks, and the 5G and F5G business models. For the students of the current academic year, another possible response was given: “How the research around 6G is shaping” to also examine the impact of the 6G sub-section on the students. As evident, one out of four students selected this option.

Next, the students were asked to determine the most captivating subject(s) covered in the entirety of the “Broadband Communications” course. They were presented with a selection of ten topics and had the option to choose more than one topic. This question was addressed only to the students of the previous academic year since the questionnaire for this academic year was provided prior to the course completion. The results are shown in the following table.

Table 2 illustrates that 80% of students found the 5G and F5G modules to be the most captivating topics, likely due to their incorporation of cutting-edge technologies and forward-looking services that ignited their curiosity. Additionally, DSL was deemed significant by nearly half of the students, which is unsurprising given that DSL is the primary method of Internet access in Greece, a technology with which the majority of students are already acquainted. Moreover, one-third of the students also expressed interest in the Internet and TCP/IP standard, Broadband Applications/services-B-Networks-ISDN, Ethernet standard, and PON standards, all of which represent crucial technologies and standards in daily use. Conversely, topics such as switching techniques, introduction, N-ISDN network, and ATM were less popular among students, likely due to their limited familiarity with these technologies.

4.2. Attained Scores in Multiple Choice Questions

The 20-question quiz that was exploited to evaluate the students’ acquired knowledge is tabulated in Appendix B and comprises 10 questions regarding the service categories and their requirements and 10 questions regarding the network evolution and the network capabilities. The percentage of the correct answers for all 20 questions among all 22 students who completed the quiz is illustrated in Figure 9. From this figure, we can observe that in 11 questions more than 75% of the students answered correctly (quartile 1); in 5 questions, 50–75% of the students were correct (quartile 2); and in four questions, the majority of the responses were erroneous (two questions in quartile 3 and two questions in quartile 4). From these results, we can observe that the grades were higher (76%) in the first 10 questions that dealt with the service categories and their requirements, than in the final 10 questions, which included network capabilities (63%). This can be attributed to the fact that the majority of the students were very familiar with the services and their requirements in their everyday lives. In the four questions with the lowest grade, which are questions numbers 4, 11, 14, and 16, we can highlight the difficulty of comparing the 5G/F5G and 6G/F6G in terms of the number of service categories, offered bit rate, and FTTx type. Based on these conclusions, in the next year’s lectures, Figure 3 of [21] will be analyzed more extensively to allow the students to better understand the differences between the 5G and 6G network capabilities.

Finally, the overall grade distribution of all 22 grades is shown in Figure 10, normalized on a scale of 0–10. The lowest score was equal to 5, corresponding to 10 correct answers, and the highest was 8.5, corresponding to 17 correct answers, with an average of 6.86 and a median of 6.75. The most important statistical features are also summarized in Table 3. To probe more into these results, we performed the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test of fit [27] in the grade distribution to examine if the grades can be considered “Gaussian-like”. More specifically, we estimated for N = 22 samples and a level of significance where a = 0.05, a maximum difference of 0.16 between the cumulative distribution of our data and the Gaussian distribution, which is lower than the critical value extracted from Table 1 of [27] that equals 0.29, and as a consequence, the distribution of the grades can be assumed as a “Gaussian-like”. In general, the results of the students are favorable; however, they leave enough space for improvement. In the next section, future directions and forward-looking topics are proposed for the next academic year.

5. Future Directions and Forward-Looking Topics

In the final question, the students highlighted their preferences about the topics that need to be further exemplified or added in the 5G/F5G module for next year’s course. The most common topic was the introduction of more forward-looking services, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, holographic communications, robotics, services associated with the Internet of Things, and smart infrastructure. Other topics of interest were the impact of radiation of 5G antennas on the human body and the environment, the satellite internet, security/privacy aspects, the role of AI in 6G networks, and finally, the technologies for the sixth generation of wireless networks.

Overall, we can say that despite the encouraging results from Question 1, showing that more than 50% of the students obtained some new knowledge about the 5G/F5G, these results leave enough space for improvement. For this reason, we propose some future plans, which include:

• The development of short notes (focusing on the various aspects of 5G/F5G) combined with “knowledge-checking” pre-course multiple-choice questions to be answered through the e-class platform. This will also help students enhance their theory comprehension about the topic.

• The development of more multiple-choice questions to be answered by the students during the asynchronous part of the course. The students could submit their answers via the e-class platform and receive their scores automatically. This method has two main benefits. First, it allows the instructors to perform statistical analysis, which can designate the exact student’s difficulties and misunderstandings about the topic, as well as the extent. Secondly, the students can assess themselves, which can enhance their active participation and improve their overall knowledge.

• The assignment of small hands-on tasks/projects regarding 5G/F5G topics. For example, the students will be asked to work on a specific network service/app, which they will present to their classmates at the end of the course on a dedicated presentation day. Using this method, the students will enhance their presentation skills while attending a variety of more practical topics presented by their classmates.

• Encouraging students to participate in webinars and/or workshops related to 5G/F5G topics. In this way, they will become more familiar with these topics and also have the opportunity to interact actively with highly skilled researchers and engineers in the field.

6. Conclusions

In this paper, we have designed and analyzed a course module that presents 5G and F5G in a unified manner, following the common timeline of evolution for wireless and fixed networks. Upon the module’s completion, 32 students of those that have attended the course in the previous academic year, and 16 of those that have attended the course in this academic year filled in questionnaires. Based on their responses, more than half of the students improved their knowledge regarding 5G/F5G topics. Moreover, the number of students who designated the module of high importance significantly increased after the module (from 45% before the module to 92% after the module, in the previous academic year). Further, the number of students who voted as likely to engage more with the topic after the module’s completion was up to about 70%. In addition, based on the 20-question quiz that was offered to the students of the current academic year, the students answered correctly about 14 out of 20 questions, finding difficulties mainly in four questions primarily related to the differences between the 5G/F5G and 6G/F6G, in terms of number of service categories, offered bit rate, and FTTx type.

Based on this quiz, we can deduce that the students were more familiar with service categories and their requirements than with network capabilities, which requires devising a more focused plan toward this direction for the next academic year. In accordance, our plans for the next academic year include (a) the offering of short notes for a deeper understanding of the related topics, (b) the generation of more multiple-choice questions, which will be analyzed to reveal more students’ difficulties and misunderstandings, (c) the assignment of small tasks/projects which will enrich the students’ presentation skills, and allow them to engage with a wider variety of topics presented by their classmates, and (d) the encouragement of students to actively participate in webinars and/or workshops to become more familiar with the topic.

Author Contributions

Conceptualization, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; methodology, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; validation, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; formal analysis, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; investigation, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; data curation, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; writing—original draft preparation, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; writing—review and editing, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L.; visualization, D.U., G.P., I.M., M.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Informed Consent Statement

Informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. The questionnaires were anonymized from one student who was selected to gather them.

Data Availability Statement

The data discussed in this article have been referenced at the corresponding points.

Acknowledgments

This paper is an extended version of our paper published at the 17th International Conference on Telecommunications (ConTEL), held in Graz, Austria, from 11 to 13 July 2023.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Footnotes

Disclaimer/Publisher’s Note: The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content.

Figures and Tables

Figure 1. Timeline of four Industrial Revolutions.

Figure 2. Classification of services based on three key requirements (latency, bit rate, and fiber density/connectivity) [22]. eFBB: Enhanced Fiber Broadband, FFC: Full Fiber Connection, GRE: Guaranteed Reliable Experience, FFBC: Full Fiber Broadband Connection, GRFB: Guaranteed Reliable Fiber Broadband, GRFFE: Guaranteed Reliable Full Fiber Experience, and FFGRB: Full Fiber Guaranteed Reliable Broadband.

Figure 3. Illustration of the main services, network characteristics, novelties, limitations, and standards of the five generations of fixed networks in a layered approach [4].

Figure 4. Percentage distribution of student’s responses to the question, “How would you rate your knowledge on the subject 5G-F5G?” for the previous and the current academic years.

Figure 5. Percentage distribution of students’ responses to the question, “How would you rate the importance in general of the 5G-F5G subject?” for the previous and the current academic years.

Figure 6. Percentage distribution of students’ responses to the question, “How likely is it to engage further with the 5G-F5G subject (e.g., through a thesis, further reading, or choosing a relevant postgraduate course)?” for the previous and current academic years.

Figure 7. Percentage distribution of student’s responses to the question, “How much has this particular module influenced your opinion about the 5G-F5G subject?” for the previous and the current academic years.

Figure 8. The percentage distribution of students’ responses to the question, “Which topic of this particular module did you find most interesting?”.

Figure 9. Percentage of correct answers for the 20 questions of a multiple-choice quiz. The average score was 69%.

Figure 10. Grading distribution for the 22 students who submitted their answers in the 20-question multiple choice quiz. The average score is 6.86 and the standard deviation equals 0.86.

Table 1

Growth rate and market size of F5G use cases according to [23].

Use Case	Annual Growth Rate (%)	Market Size (USD Billions)
Cloud VR	66.7	292 (2025)
Smart Home	129 (in total between 2019–2023)	154 (2023)
Gaming	9.3	174 (2021)
Social Networking	45 (in total between 2017–2022)	57 (2022)
Cloud Desktop	39.4 (compound annual rate between 2016–2022)	2.58 (2022 in China)
Safe City	7.5	24.1 (2022)
Enterprise Cloudification	30	103.5 (2022)
Online Education	9.5 (compound annual rate between 2017–2026)	400 (2026)
E-health	22	39.2 (2023)

Table 2

Distribution of student’s responses to the question, “Which topic(s) of “Broadband Communications” course did you find most interesting?”.

Topic (Sorted by Highest Preference)	Percentage
5G and F5G	80.65%
DSL	48.39%
The Internet and TCP/IP standard	35.48%
Broadband Applications/services-B-Networks-ISDN	35.48%
The Ethernet standard	32.26%
PON standards	32.26%
Switching techniques	16.13%
Introduction	6.45%
The N-ISDN network	6.45%
ATM	6.45%

Table 3

Statistical features estimated over the grades of the 22 students in the 20-question multiple choice quiz.

Feature	Description	Value
Mean	Average value	6.86
Min	Minimum value	5
Max	Maximum value	8.5
Median	Median value	6.75
Standard Deviation	Measure of dispersion	0.86

Appendix A. Questionnaire Used to Evaluate the Impact of 5G/F5G Module

Table A1

Seven-question questionnaire used to evaluate the impact of the 5G/F5G module.

Q1. How would you rate your knowledge on the subject 5G-F5G? (before and after the course) □ I have not even heard of those terms. □ I have heard these terms but had no solid knowledge. □ I have a small knowledge about these terms. □ I have enough relevant knowledge. Q2. How would you rate the importance of the 5G-F5G subject in general? (before and after the course) □ Not important at all. □ Of small importance. □ Very important. □ I cannot judge. Q3. How likely is it to engage further with the 5G-F5G subject (e.g., through a thesis, further reading, or choosing a relevant postgraduate course)? (before and after the course) □ Probably unlikely. □ Somewhat likely. □ Probably likely. □ Very likely. Q4. How much has this particular module influenced your opinion about the 5G-F5G subject? □ Zero or very little. □ Moderate. □ High. □ Very high. Q5. Which topic of this particular module did you find most interesting? □ Services offered by 5G and F5G. □ 5 generations of wireless networks. □ 5G and F5G business models. □ 5 generations of fixed networks. □ Other. Q6. Which topic(s) of the “Broadband Communications” course did you find most interesting? □ Introduction. □ The Internet and TCP/IP standard. □ The N-ISDN network. □ Switching Techniques. □ Broadband Applications/services-B-Networks-ISDN. □ ATM. □ DSL. □ The Ethernet standard. □ PON standards. □ 5G and F5G. Q7. What are your topics of interest that you would like to add or analyze further in the next academic year?Please add: ___________________________________

Appendix B. Multiple Choice Questions Used to Evaluate Students’ Understanding of the Presented Topics about the 5-6G/F5-6G

Table A2

20 multiple-choice questions about 5-6G/F5-6G services, their requirements, and network capabilities (the correct answers are in bold).

Q1. Which service can the current networks support? □ Holographic communications in real-time. □ Smart city. □ Collaborative robots (co-bots). □ Digital twin in aerospace. Q2. Select the correct answer: □ Netflix and YouTube are video on demand type of services. □ MS-Teams and telephony are voice over IP services. □ Virtual reality services aim for an almost complete transition of the user to a virtual world. (mentally—not physically present) □ All the above are correct. Q3. What is(are) the main requirement(s) of 5G/F5G services? □ High connectivity. □ High bit rate. □ Low latency. □ All the above are correct. Q4. In how many different service categories can the services supported by 5G/F5G be classified based on their key requirements? □ One. □ Two. □ Three. □ More than three. Q5. In how many different service categories can the services supported by 6G/F6G be classified based on their key requirements? □ Two. □ Three. □ Four. □ More than four. Q6. What is(are) the main requirement(s) of smart transportation services? □ High connection density. □ High latency. □ Low reliability. □ All the above are correct. Q7. What is(are) the main requirement(s) of Industry 4.0 services? □ High reliability. □ Low bit rate. □ High security. □ All the above are correct. Q8. What is(are) the main requirement(s) of (real-time) e-health services? □ Low latency. □ High bit rate. □ High reliability. □ All the above are correct. Q9. Select the correct answer: □ The e-mail appeared in the 3rd generation of fixed networks (F3G). □ The 4K video appeared in the 5th generation of fixed networks (F5G). □ The smart city appeared in the 5th generation of fixed networks (F5G). □ The holograms appeared in the 5th generation of fixed networks (F5G). Q10. Select the correct answer: □ Virtual reality appeared in the 5th generation of fixed networks (F5G). □ HD video appeared in the 3rd generation of fixed networks (F3G). □ All the others are correct. □ The internet of senses appears in the 6th generation of fixed networks (F6G). Q11. The 4th Industrial Revolution is primarily based on the evolution of: □ Energy sector. □ Electronics. □ Robotics. □ Mechanization. Q12. Higher Quality of Service (QoS) implies: □ Lower Quality of Experience (QoE). □ Higher Bit Error Rate (BER). □ Lower end-to-end latency. □ All the above are correct. Q13. Select the correct answer: □ If the QoE is low, there is no problem since the user will always pay for his favorite application, e.g., gaming. □ The QoE is much more important to the user than the QoS. □ The QoE is a direct function of Grade of Service (GoS). □ The QoE is an objective quantity like QoS. Q14. What bit rates can F5G networks support in the access part of the network? □ 0–200 Gb/s. □ 0–100 Gb/s. □ 0–10 Gb/s. □ All the above are correct. Q15. What latency can F5G networks support in the access part of the network? □ Up to 100 ms. □ Up to 50 ms. □ Up to 10 ms. □ Up to 100 μs. Q16. What FTTx can F5G networks support in the access part of the network? □ Fiber to the Building (FTTB). □ Fiber to the Cabinet (FTTC). □ Fiber to the Home (FTTH). □ Fiber to the Room (FTTR). Q17. What bit rates can F6G networks support in the access part of the network? □ 0–200 Gb/s. □ 0–50 Gb/s. □ 0–10 Gb/s. □ 0–1 Gb/s. Q18. What latency can F6G networks support in the access part of the network? □ Up to 10 ms. □ Up to 5 ms. □ Up to 1 ms. □ Up to 10 μs. Q19. What FTTx can F6G networks support in the access part of the network? □ Fiber to the Home (FTTH). □ Fiber to the Cabinet (FTTC). □ Fiber to the Building (FTTB). □ Fiber to the Everything (FTTE). Q20. Select the correct answer: □ Today, services are offered over the 6G network. □ The evolution of communication networks will, at some point, stop when we will achieve very high transmission rates. □ Communication networks have a moderate to insignificant effect on the economy and everyday life. □ None of the above.

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