Electronics & Communication Engineering project ideas

100 projects, from a first build to a final-year capstone. Each lists the skills it teaches and the tools it needs; times and costs are estimates.

Beginner projects

• AM and FM Modulation Visualizer — Change carrier, message frequency and modulation index and watch AM/FM waveforms and spectra update. Skills: amplitude/frequency modulation, spectra, bandwidth. Tools: web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Sampling and Aliasing Explorer — Sample a sine wave at different rates and see aliasing appear below the Nyquist rate. Skills: Nyquist theorem, aliasing, sampling. Tools: web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Morse Code Light Transmitter — Send text as Morse code with an LED and decode it with a light sensor on a second board. Skills: on-off keying, timing, decoding. Tools: LED, photodiode, two microcontrollers. Hardware build, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Signal-to-Noise Ratio Calculator — Compute SNR, dB conversions and noise power for links and amplifiers with worked examples. Skills: decibels, noise power, SNR. Tools: web calculator. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• IR Remote Data Link — Send bytes between two boards with modulated IR and measure error rate with distance. Skills: IR communication, modulation, bit errors. Tools: IR LED/receiver, MCUs. Hardware build, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Dipole Antenna Length Calculator — Calculate half-wave dipole lengths for chosen frequencies with velocity factor. Skills: wavelength, antennas, velocity factor. Tools: web calculator. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Audio Spectrum Analyzer — Show a live FFT of microphone audio with peak frequency detection. Skills: FFT, windowing, spectra. Tools: Web Audio API. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Line Coding Waveform Generator — Draw NRZ, Manchester and AMI encodings of a bit stream and compare spectra. Skills: line coding, clock recovery, spectra. Tools: web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Walkie-Talkie Range Test — Measure received signal strength of a radio link at different distances and fit path loss. Skills: path loss, RSSI, field measurement. Tools: radio modules, logger. Data lab, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Parity and Checksum Demonstrator — Add parity bits and checksums to messages, inject errors and see which are caught. Skills: error detection, parity, checksums. Tools: web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Bluetooth Sensor Beacon — Broadcast sensor readings as BLE advertisements and read them on a phone. Skills: BLE advertising, packet formats. Tools: ESP32/nRF board, phone app. Hardware build, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Analog Filter Response Plotter — Plot Butterworth and Chebyshev magnitude responses for chosen orders and cutoffs. Skills: filter approximations, order, ripple. Tools: Python/web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Digital Clock With RTC — Build a clock with a real-time clock chip and display, synchronising time over serial. Skills: RTC, I2C, displays. Tools: RTC module, MCU, display. Hardware build, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Serial Communication Analyzer — Capture UART frames with a logic analyzer and decode baud, parity and stop bits. Skills: UART framing, logic analysis. Tools: logic analyzer, MCU. Data lab, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Light Fidelity Audio Link — Transmit audio by modulating an LED and receive it with a solar cell into a speaker. Skills: optical communication, analog modulation. Tools: LED, solar cell, amplifier. Hardware build, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Quantisation Noise Demonstrator — Quantise a signal to fewer bits and hear and measure the quantisation noise. Skills: quantisation, bit depth, SQNR. Tools: Python/Web Audio. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Wi-Fi Signal Heatmap — Walk a building logging Wi-Fi RSSI and draw a coverage heatmap. Skills: wireless coverage, RSSI, mapping. Tools: phone/laptop, Python. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• DTMF Tone Decoder — Generate and decode phone keypad DTMF tones with the Goertzel algorithm. Skills: DTMF, Goertzel, tone detection. Tools: Python/MCU. Data lab, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Phasor Diagram Visualizer — Show sinusoids as rotating phasors and add them graphically. Skills: phasors, sinusoids, phase. Tools: web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Ultrasonic Data Transmission — Send short messages between laptops using inaudible ultrasonic tones. Skills: FSK, acoustic channels, detection. Tools: laptops, Web Audio. Hardware build, Up to 15 h, Under $30.
• Convolution Animator — Animate the flip-shift-multiply-add steps of discrete convolution. Skills: convolution, LTI systems. Tools: web app. Visualizer, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Radio Wave Propagation Simulator — Show reflection, diffraction and free-space loss for different frequencies and obstacles. Skills: propagation, path loss, wavelength. Tools: web app. Simulator, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Barcode and QR Decoder Study — Decode barcodes and QR codes from images and explain their error correction. Skills: barcodes, Reed-Solomon basics, imaging. Tools: Python, OpenCV. Data lab, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Telephone Exchange Switching Model — Simulate call setup and blocking probability in a small exchange. Skills: switching, blocking, Erlang basics. Tools: Python. Simulator, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).
• Crystal Oscillator Frequency Study — Measure crystal oscillator frequency and drift with temperature. Skills: oscillators, frequency stability, measurement. Tools: crystal, frequency counter. Data lab, Up to 15 h, Software only (free tools).

Intermediate projects

• Software-Defined Radio Spectrum Viewer — Use an RTL-SDR to scan FM, ADS-B and ISM bands and show a waterfall with signal annotations. Skills: SDR, spectrum analysis, waterfalls. Tools: RTL-SDR, GNU Radio/Python. Visualizer, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• QPSK Modem Demonstrator — Modulate and demodulate QPSK with carrier and timing recovery and show constellations and BER. Skills: digital modulation, synchronisation, BER. Tools: GNU Radio/Python. Simulator, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Antenna Radiation Pattern Explorer — Compute and plot radiation patterns of dipoles and arrays as element spacing and phase change. Skills: antenna arrays, array factor, patterns. Tools: Python/web app. Visualizer, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Audio Noise Cancellation System — Cancel background noise from speech with spectral subtraction and compare clarity. Skills: noise reduction, STFT, speech processing. Tools: Python. Data lab, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• FIR/IIR Filter Comparison Lab — Design equivalent FIR and IIR filters and compare phase, latency and complexity. Skills: filter design, phase response, implementation. Tools: Python, SciPy. Data lab, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• LoRa Telemetry Node — Send sensor data over LoRa and map range versus spreading factor and bandwidth. Skills: LoRa, link budget, range testing. Tools: LoRa modules, GPS. Hardware build, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Fiber-Optic Link Budget Calculator — Compute optical power budgets with fibre loss, connectors, splices and margins. Skills: optical links, attenuation, power budgets. Tools: web calculator. Visualizer, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• RF Matching Network Tuner — Design L and pi matching networks on a Smith chart and verify with a VNA. Skills: impedance matching, Smith chart, VNA. Tools: NanoVNA, Smith chart tool. Visualizer, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Error-Correcting Code Visualizer — Encode messages with Hamming and convolutional codes and watch Viterbi decoding correct errors. Skills: channel coding, Viterbi, Hamming codes. Tools: Python/web app. Visualizer, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Acoustic Source Localization — Locate a sound source with a microphone array using time-difference of arrival. Skills: TDOA, cross-correlation, arrays. Tools: microphone array, Python. Data lab, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Speech Codec Comparison — Encode speech with different codecs and bit rates and compare quality and bandwidth. Skills: speech coding, quality metrics, compression. Tools: Python, codecs. Data lab, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Mesh Network Testbed — Build a small Wi-Fi or BLE mesh and measure hop latency and resilience to node loss. Skills: mesh networking, routing, resilience. Tools: ESP32 boards. Hardware build, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Digital Image Compression Study — Compress images with DCT-based coding and compare PSNR at different quality levels. Skills: DCT, quantisation, image quality. Tools: Python. Data lab, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• PCM Encoder-Decoder — Implement PCM with companding and measure quantisation SNR improvement. Skills: PCM, mu-law companding, SQNR. Tools: Python/MCU. Data lab, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum Demo — Hop a narrowband signal across channels and show resistance to a fixed jammer. Skills: spread spectrum, FHSS, interference. Tools: SDR/simulation. Simulator, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Microstrip Patch Antenna Design — Design a 2.4 GHz patch antenna, simulate it and measure return loss of a prototype. Skills: patch antennas, EM simulation, VNA measurement. Tools: openEMS, PCB, NanoVNA. CAD / design, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Eye Diagram Analyzer — Generate eye diagrams from serial data with noise and jitter and measure eye opening. Skills: eye diagrams, ISI, jitter. Tools: Python. Visualizer, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Phase-Locked Loop Simulator — Simulate PLL locking behaviour and the effect of loop bandwidth on noise. Skills: PLLs, loop filters, phase noise. Tools: Python. Simulator, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Sigma-Delta ADC Model — Model a sigma-delta modulator and decimation filter and show noise shaping. Skills: oversampling, noise shaping, decimation. Tools: Python. Simulator, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Bit Error Rate Tester — Measure BER versus SNR for BPSK in simulation and compare with theory. Skills: BER, AWGN, Monte Carlo. Tools: Python. Simulator, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• CAN Bus Network Analyzer — Capture CAN frames, decode IDs and measure bus load and error frames. Skills: CAN protocol, bus load, decoding. Tools: CAN transceiver, MCU. Data lab, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Video Streaming Quality Monitor — Measure bitrate, latency and frame drops of a video stream under limited bandwidth. Skills: streaming, QoE, network emulation. Tools: ffmpeg, tc/netem. Dashboard, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Superheterodyne Receiver Model — Simulate mixing, IF filtering and image rejection in a superhet receiver. Skills: mixers, IF, image frequency. Tools: Python. Simulator, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).
• Zigbee Home Sensor Network — Build a Zigbee sensor network with a coordinator and measure battery life. Skills: Zigbee, network topology, power. Tools: Zigbee modules. Hardware build, 15–45 h, $30–150.
• Channel Capacity Explorer — Plot Shannon capacity versus bandwidth and SNR and compare real modulation schemes. Skills: channel capacity, Shannon limit, spectral efficiency. Tools: web app. Visualizer, 15–45 h, Software only (free tools).

Advanced projects

• OFDM Channel Simulator — Simulate OFDM with cyclic prefix over multipath channels and show equalisation and BER. Skills: OFDM, multipath, equalisation. Tools: Python. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• MIMO Beamforming Visualizer — Steer beams with phased weights and show gain, nulls and capacity gains of MIMO. Skills: beamforming, MIMO, spatial multiplexing. Tools: Python/web app. Visualizer, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Channel Estimation Sandbox — Compare least-squares and MMSE channel estimation with different pilot patterns. Skills: channel estimation, pilots, MMSE. Tools: Python. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• 5G Handover Simulator — Simulate user mobility between cells and tune handover thresholds against ping-pong and drops. Skills: mobility management, handover, cellular networks. Tools: Python. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Satellite Link Budget Tool — Compute uplink and downlink budgets with rain fade, G/T and EIRP for a satellite link. Skills: satellite links, link budgets, propagation. Tools: web app/Python. Visualizer, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Wireless Coexistence Analyzer — Measure how Wi-Fi, BLE and Zigbee interfere in the 2.4 GHz band and suggest channel plans. Skills: coexistence, interference, spectrum planning. Tools: SDR, analyzers. Data lab, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Adaptive Equalizer Demo — Equalise a distorting channel with LMS and RLS adaptive filters and compare convergence. Skills: adaptive equalisation, LMS/RLS, ISI. Tools: Python. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Radar Range-Doppler Visualizer — Process FMCW radar chirps into range-Doppler maps and detect moving targets. Skills: FMCW radar, 2D FFT, CFAR. Tools: Python, radar data. Visualizer, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Low-Power Wake-Up Receiver — Design an ultra-low-power wake-up receiver that triggers a main radio only on its address. Skills: wake-up radios, envelope detection, power. Tools: discrete RF parts, MCU. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• GNSS Receiver Signal Acquisition — Acquire GPS satellites from raw IQ samples with code correlation. Skills: GNSS, spread spectrum, correlation. Tools: SDR, Python. Data lab, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Visible Light Communication Link — Build a high-speed LED communication link with OOK/PPM and measure data rate. Skills: VLC, optical modulation, receivers. Tools: LEDs, photodiode, FPGA/MCU. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• Smart Antenna Direction Finder — Estimate direction of arrival with MUSIC on an antenna array. Skills: DOA estimation, MUSIC, arrays. Tools: SDR array/simulation. Data lab, 45–100 h, $30–150.
• Network Slicing Resource Simulator — Allocate radio resources to slices with different QoS and measure isolation. Skills: network slicing, QoS, scheduling. Tools: Python. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Polar Code Decoder — Implement successive-cancellation decoding of polar codes and plot BLER. Skills: polar codes, decoding, 5G coding. Tools: Python. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Doppler Ultrasound Flow Meter — Estimate flow velocity from Doppler shift of ultrasound echoes in a pipe. Skills: Doppler effect, signal processing, measurement. Tools: ultrasound transducers, ADC. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• Image Processing on FPGA — Implement real-time edge detection on a video stream in an FPGA. Skills: FPGA design, video pipelines, convolution. Tools: FPGA board, camera. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• Underwater Acoustic Modem — Send data through water with acoustic FSK and handle multipath. Skills: underwater acoustics, multipath, modems. Tools: hydrophones, transducers. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• Speaker Recognition System — Identify speakers using MFCC features and a classifier. Skills: MFCC, classification, speech. Tools: Python. Data lab, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• IoT Protocol Comparison Bench — Compare MQTT, CoAP and HTTP for latency, overhead and energy. Skills: IoT protocols, benchmarking, power. Tools: ESP32, broker, logger. Data lab, 45–100 h, $30–150.
• Interference Cancellation Receiver — Cancel a strong known interferer to decode a weak signal with SIC. Skills: successive interference cancellation, receivers. Tools: Python/SDR. Simulator, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Phased Array Hardware Prototype — Build a small 4-element phased array with phase shifters and measure steering. Skills: phased arrays, RF design, measurement. Tools: phase shifters, antennas, SDR. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• Cellular Coverage Planning Tool — Plan base station placement with propagation models over terrain. Skills: coverage planning, propagation models, optimisation. Tools: Python, DEM. Visualizer, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).
• Real-Time Audio Effects Processor — Implement reverb, echo and equaliser effects on a DSP board with low latency. Skills: real-time DSP, filters, latency. Tools: DSP/MCU board. Hardware build, 45–100 h, $150+.
• Time-Sensitive Networking Study — Measure deterministic latency with TSN scheduling on an Ethernet testbed. Skills: TSN, scheduling, deterministic networks. Tools: switches/simulation. Simulator, 45–100 h, $30–150.
• Compressive Spectrum Sensing — Detect occupied channels from sub-Nyquist samples using compressed sensing. Skills: spectrum sensing, compressed sensing. Tools: Python. Data lab, 45–100 h, Software only (free tools).

Expert projects

• Digital Predistortion Experiment — Linearise a power amplifier with digital predistortion and measure ACPR improvement. Skills: PA linearisation, DPD, ACPR. Tools: SDR, PA, Python. Hardware build, 100 h+, $150+.
• Cognitive Radio Policy Simulator — Let secondary users sense and access spectrum without harming primary users. Skills: cognitive radio, spectrum access, policies. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Massive-MIMO Resource Scheduler — Schedule users and beams in a massive-MIMO cell to maximise throughput with fairness. Skills: massive MIMO, scheduling, fairness. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Hardware-In-Loop Communication Tester — Test a real radio against a channel emulator replaying fading and interference scenarios. Skills: HIL testing, channel emulation, validation. Tools: SDRs, channel emulator. Hardware build, 100 h+, $150+.
• Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface Study — Model how a programmable reflecting surface improves coverage in a blocked room. Skills: RIS, beam steering, propagation. Tools: Python/EM simulation. Simulator, 100 h+, $150+.
• Deep Learning Modulation Classifier — Classify modulation types from raw IQ with a CNN and test robustness to SNR. Skills: deep learning, IQ data, classification. Tools: Python, PyTorch. Data lab, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Joint Communication and Sensing Prototype — Use one waveform to communicate and detect targets simultaneously. Skills: ISAC, waveform design, radar. Tools: SDR, Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• LEO Satellite Constellation Simulator — Simulate handovers and coverage for a low-earth-orbit constellation. Skills: orbital mechanics, coverage, handover. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Physical Layer Security Demo — Generate shared keys from reciprocal channel randomness between two radios. Skills: PHY security, key generation, reciprocity. Tools: SDRs. Hardware build, 100 h+, $150+.
• mmWave Beam Tracking — Track beams for a moving user at mmWave with limited feedback. Skills: mmWave, beam tracking, mobility. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Semantic Communication Prototype — Transmit meaning rather than bits with learned encoders and compare with classical schemes. Skills: semantic communication, learned codecs. Tools: Python, PyTorch. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Full-Duplex Self-Interference Canceller — Cancel a radio's own transmission to receive on the same frequency simultaneously. Skills: full duplex, cancellation, RF/digital. Tools: SDR, Python. Hardware build, 100 h+, $150+.
• Network Digital Twin for Wireless — Mirror a wireless network's state to test configuration changes before deploying. Skills: network digital twins, simulation, optimisation. Tools: ns-3, Python. Digital twin, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Terahertz Channel Measurement Study — Analyse THz channel data for absorption and blockage and model it. Skills: THz propagation, channel modelling. Tools: public datasets, Python. Data lab, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Quantum Key Distribution Simulator — Simulate BB84 with eavesdropping and estimate secure key rates. Skills: QKD, BB84, error rates. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Energy-Efficient Edge Offloading — Decide when IoT devices should offload computation to an edge server. Skills: edge computing, offloading, optimisation. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Federated Learning Over Wireless — Train a model across devices over a lossy wireless link and study convergence. Skills: federated learning, wireless constraints. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Spectrum Anomaly Detection With AI — Detect unusual transmissions in wideband spectrum recordings. Skills: anomaly detection, spectrograms, ML. Tools: Python, SDR recordings. Data lab, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Vehicle-to-Vehicle Link Reliability Study — Model V2V links with mobility and blockage and measure packet delivery. Skills: V2X, mobility, reliability. Tools: ns-3/Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Ultra-Wideband Indoor Positioning — Locate tags indoors to centimetre accuracy with UWB ranging and trilateration. Skills: UWB, TWR/TDOA, positioning. Tools: UWB modules. Hardware build, 100 h+, $150+.
• Optical Wireless Data Centre Link — Model free-space optical links between racks and handle misalignment. Skills: FSO, beam alignment, data centres. Tools: simulation. Simulator, 100 h+, $150+.
• Neuromorphic Audio Keyword Spotter — Detect keywords with a spiking neural network on low-power hardware. Skills: SNNs, keyword spotting, low power. Tools: Python, neuromorphic tools. Data lab, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Self-Organising Network Optimizer — Automatically tune cell parameters with reinforcement learning. Skills: SON, RL, cellular optimisation. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Cross-Layer Video Streaming Optimizer — Adapt video bitrate using both PHY channel state and buffer levels. Skills: cross-layer design, ABR, QoE. Tools: Python. Simulator, 100 h+, Software only (free tools).
• Chirp Spread Spectrum Modem From Scratch — Implement a LoRa-like CSS modem in SDR and measure sensitivity. Skills: CSS modulation, SDR, sensitivity. Tools: SDR, GNU Radio. Hardware build, 100 h+, $150+.

Project ideas for every branch · Electronics & Communication Engineering roadmap