CRCD/EI: 4G Wireless Engineering Sandbox

Auburn University, Auburn AL

Investigators

Abstract

A team from Auburn University and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is developing a state-of-the-art curriculum in wireless engineering with a strong hands-on experience. Using senior design projects and master projects, the investigators are building a 4G wireless engineering sandbox (4G Sandbox) inspired by a research testbed developed at Telcordia. Once built, the 4G wireless sandbox will be a center piece of Auburn's unique undergraduate wireless engineering degree program. Programming assignments and laboratory projects will be developed on the sandbox. The 4G Sandbox is designed and built by faculty members assisted by graduate and undergraduate students through projects. The 4G Sandbox project involves faculty and students from two departments at Auburn University - Computer Science and Software Engi-neering (CSSE) and Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and one faculty member and students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineer-ing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The 4G Sandbox is a unique infrastructure that will offer an integrated hands-on experience to our students in the new wireless engineering program at Auburn. After graduating from the wireless engineering program, a student will be familiar with 4G wire-less telecommunications systems and will be able to create, design, and imple-ment new features or applications on such systems. The investigators expect the 4G Sandbox to become a model that will help many other educators in the nation to implement meaningful and helpful laboratory exercises and projects related to wireless engineering. This 4G Sandbox project will be disseminated through all means appropriate to the degree of maturity and completion of the project: education conference and journal papers, web site, and possibly a workshop. The improved curriculum will produce a highly skilled workforce with a hands-on experience.