Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The applicant and co-applicants are among some of the most active and productive researchers involved in wireless communications research in Canada. The substantial research programs of this group have the objectives to develop new system architectures, signalling and signal processing techniques, radio resource management algorithms and access protocols that enable high data-rate broadband wireless communications. A common theme of these programs involves the use of multiple antennas and cooperative communications employing multiple transmitters/ receivers. While analytical modeling and computer simulations are generally applied to evaluate the efficacy of these techniques, more in-depth understanding of practical design and implementation issues requires that the proposed techniques be implemented in experimental platforms and evaluated under realistic conditions. Software-defined radio (SDR) platforms incorporating advanced digital signal processing capabilities can support multiple wireless communications standards, and provide an ideal experimental setup to implement and evaluate new communication methods that extend and enhance existing standards. In this RTI grant application, we propose to combine a state-of-the-arts multi-channel SDR platform equipped with a wideband radio frequency front-end operating at the 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band with a cutting-edge distributed antenna system (DAS) that enables multiple transmit/ receive antennas to be located up to 500 meters away from the centralized SDR platform. This equipment setup enables the experimental implementation and evaluation of advanced wireless local area network design with multiple access points that employ cooperative and cognitive wireless communications techniques. The DAS-SDR platform is complemented by two small form factor SDR units that can function as mobile stations. The proposed RTI setup is unique in Canada due to its novel configuration combining DAS and SDR. In addition to advancing practical research, the RTI will also facilitate proof-of-concept prototyping of new techniques for technology transfer, and provide much needed practical training to highly qualified personnel.