EAGER: Design, Development and Standardization of a New Hands-On Lab Component for use in Wireless Information Systems Courses, based on the GENI Wireless Research Facilities

New York University, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project will develop a series of lab exercises comprising a senior-level undergraduate or introductory graduate lab course on fundamental design issues of wireless networks and technologies. Over the course of this lab sequence, students will practice designing, implementing and running wireless experiments using the GENI wireless testbed infrastructure. These labs enable student to learn wireless networks protocols and technologies by working with real systems and evaluating wireless schemes in real conditions, instead of relying on the 'protected' environment of software simulations. Through building protocols on a real platform, students will understand the challenges in the design of wireless systems and the approaches and techniques that are used today, and will become familiar with open research issues in the wireless field. They will learn how to resolve realistic issues and how to design algorithms that work in practical situations. The outcome of the project will be a set of materials (including a lab manual, disk images, experiment scripts, software, and slides) that can be used by academic institutions throughout the US, together with the integrated GENI wireless facilities, to supplement traditional courses on wireless networks with a hands-on lab component. All data generated as part of the proposed effort will be electronically disseminated using the portal of the WiTEST Lab in NYU-Poly and on the GENI.net website. Developed software and results of the lab development will be made available in the open-source format and will be free for academic use. Educational materials will be announced on the web site and will be shared with academic colleagues upon request.