II-NEW: Versatile Hardware Emulator for ISM-band Network Management

University Of North Carolina At Charlotte, Charlotte NC

Investigators

Abstract

Experimental investigations are important in the development of wireless network protocols. While the widely used simulation approach for experimental investigations is good for studying large-scale network-level performance, simulators cannot represent the real physical environment and hardware implementation precisely. On the other hand, the testbed approach can address the realism drawback of the simulation approach, but faces serious repeatability and control issues. A recent trend on evaluating wireless network protocols is to use wireless emulators. Emulators can achieve both a high degree of realism and fine-grained repeatability. This project develops a versatile hardware-based emulator supporting controllable, repeatable, and scalable experiments over a wide range of ISM-band wireless networks (2-6GHz), including IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n, IEEE 802.15.4, and Bluetooth networks. The hardware emulator is a particularly convenient research tool for investigating the unique interference issue in ISM bands by providing a controllable interference environment. It enables experimental investigations in a number of research projects, including wireless network protocol development, interference mitigation techniques, and resource management. This project impacts the implementation, evaluation, and development of next-generation wireless networks. The designed emulator from this project has general applicability to many commercial and civilian applications. The emulator also provides a natural tool for instructional use, assisting effective classroom teaching and inductive learning.