Phase II IUCRC North Carolina State University: Broadband Wireless Access and Applications Center (BWAC)

North Carolina State University, Raleigh NC

Investigators

Abstract

This project is Phase II of the Broadband Wireless Access Center (BWAC), a multi-university multi-industry organization composed of five universities (the University of Arizona, Virginia Tech, University of Mississippi, the Catholic University of America, and North Carolina State University (NCSU)) and 20+ affiliates from industry and government. In the past decade, wireless communications has made major technological leaps. Wireless connectivity is pervasive in society, leading to a shortage in wireless spectrum, network congestion, cyber-attacks and personal security issues. The mission of BWAC is to address these challenges and offer creative solutions. In Phase II, NCSU will join BWAC with a comprehensive research agenda in support of BWAC's mission and vision. In particular, research thrusts at NCSU will include unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) communications; millimeter-wave (mmWave) theory, experimentation, hardware design, and measurements; wireless localization; visible light communications (VLC); antenna/circuit design for broadband communications, among other areas. NCSU site will collaborate closely with its industry, government, and academic partners, as well as the other BWAC sites, to introduce breakthrough advances in broadband wireless technologies and applications. The results of this collaborative industry-university center will have a direct effect on public welfare, enabling several applications such as remote health and broadband access in rural areas. The partnering universities will broaden their activities to include Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) site programs, Research Experiences for Teachers program, participation of under-represented minority students and faculty in research projects, and involvement of multidisciplinary projects. The researchers will continuously integrate the research outcomes related to mmWave and UAV communications into NCSU's curriculum at graduate as well as undergraduate levels. With its research, established partnerships, and long history of collaboration between its members, BWAC will seek to create intellectual property and spin-off companies, leading to job growth. The lead site, University of Arizona manages the central BWAC project website at www.bwac.arizona.edu. This website contains various information about the center including the overview of the center, mission, industry membership, projects, meeting announcements and technical data. Center proprietary documents are managed through a secure internal web portal requiring access credentials. The data repository will be managed at the main website with links to the other university sites. The repository will contain technical papers, project descriptions, relevant software, testbed details, etc. The repository will be maintained during the project and for an additional five years beyond its termination. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.