Grant: Idea to Innovation

Architecture and parameters of conventional communications systems are designed statically based on a "worst case" of all expected communications scenarios. Without considering the dynamic nature of channel conditions and user requirements, the static design approach often leads to a very inefficient usage of the communications resources when the system operates at improved channel conditions or reduced data traffic. An adaptive Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) system, using precoded cyclic prefix (PCP) enabled control link, is being developed at Western to address the above mentioned challenges. The new technique is based on the concurrent transmission of communication data and the transmission system parameters using one OFDM signal, where each data-carrying OFDM symbol is preceded by one PCP representing the corresponding system adaptation information. The PCP-OFDM provides a flexible platform without the requirement of additional control or feedback channel. The principle and workability of the PCP-OFDM system have been verified by theoretical analysis, numerical simulations and a preliminary prototype supported by the Western Innovation Fund (WIF) and C4 Proof-of-Principle (POP) Fund. Optimal architecture and algorithms for the digital signal processor (DSP) based PCP-OFDM transceiver will be designed and validated in the Idea to Innovation (I2I) project. Functionalities and standard compatibilities of the prototype will be enhanced by the fast OFDM adaptation block, environment sensing module and common interface. Performance of the prototype will be improved through running time and complexity reduction of the interference cancellation, PCP detection, and synchronization algorithms. Reliability of the prototype will be guaranteed by rigorous lab test under realistic communication environment. The parameters of the DSP prototype will be finalized to meet the requirements of our industry partners. The near-term commercialization plan is to license the technology to our industry partner's developing wireless applications. New applications based on this technology will also be demonstrated to other potential partners.