CISE Research Resources: A Comprehensive Multi-Tier Wireless Network Development Platform

William Marsh Rice University, Houston TX

Investigators

Abstract

EIA - 0224458 Cavallaro, Joseph R. Aazhang, Behnaam Frantz, Jeremy P. Knightly, Edward W. Sabharwal, Ashutosh Rice Universiy Title: CISE RR: A Comprehensive Multi-tier Wireless Network Development Platform This proposal, developing an infrastructure within the Center for Multimedia Communication (CMC) to enable repeatable fields' experiments in the laboratory, aims to develop integration techniques beyond simulations and other modeling. Using actual field measurement in its emulation, the infrastructure fills a gap to experimentally validate theoretical results under real-world conditions promising seamless wireless content delivery (without any service disruptions). The equipment, mainly consisting of two channel emulators, a logic analyzer, and a spectrum analyzer, benefits three major projects. Reconfigurable Wireless Architectures, High Data Rate Multiple Antenna Communication, and Opportunistic Multi-Tier Wireless Scheduling. The first project involves the design of new communication architectures that reconfigure based on the network availability, channel conditions, and data requirements of a handset. The infrastructure will enable a complete suite of efficient prototypes, which will simultaneously connect to next generation wireless LANs, third generation wireless cellular, and Bluetooth personal area networks (PANs), bringing closer the ideal ability of a single device to seamlessly maintain its link to the network using whatever connectivity is available. The second project develops new communications coding and feedback methods for high data rate wireless access by prototyping new algorithms with multiple transmit and receive antennae on reconfigurable baseband platform and stress tested in different wireless configurations for their robustness, performance limits, and power efficiency. The last project involves the design of optimal methods for scheduling data using all the resources available by a multi-tier network, including other mobile nodes connecting the backbone infrastructure. The packet schedulers are being prototyped on a mobile network processor platform and will use the multi-tier network interface (mNIC) prototype developed within CMC in its field trials. On the educational side, students will continue their research on these projects, and new developments captured for new courses. Rice University is quite active with under-represented groups. .