Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The applicant has been able to mount the Wireless Lab with the prime objective of showcasing demos aiming at the embodiment and assessment of the advanced wireless transceivers developed by his team. This recent experimental work not only significantly strengthened the scope of their research activities, but also increased their tech transfer potential to industry.*The new 5G and IoT technologies currently under discussion for imminent standardization pushes the applicant to immediately upgrade the Wireless Lab's experimental research capabilities. Although available resources have recently allowed validating 4G wireless transceiver prototypes, they cannot currently translate in hardware, then test and assess in real-world conditions the new paradigm-shifting 5G and IoT technologies developed in software such as massive MIMO, device-to-device (D2D) communications, distributed processing over wireless sensor networks (WSNs), etc., over multi-scale computing platforms such as cloud, fog or edge radio access networks. As such, an imminent reason strongly motivating this application is the Wireless Lab's urgent need for multi-scale massive-connectivity hardware integration and multi-channel emulation testing capabilities currently unavailable at the required levels that incorporate transceiver stations with heterogeneous capabilities ranging from sensor mote (i.e., tiny or small scale) to massive MIMO (i.e., large or mega scale) baseband units.*In the very short term, this application will not only provide timely leverage to recent projects on 5G Wireless Access Virtualization Enabling Schemes and Smart Underground Mines through tangible follow-up mandates or key tech transfers. But it will also address a much more urgent and critical need for multi-scale massive-connectivity hardware prototyping and multi-channel emulation capabilities unconditionally required for the successful execution of newly confirmed partnerships at critical phases scheduled between 2019 and 2022.*A first new mandate to assess experimentally the upcoming 5G radio interface technology candidates will very soon evolve into a much larger R&D project on the development of new 5G standard-compliant wireless transceiver designs. This project will encompass a very strong experimental assessment component that will exacerbate the urgent and critical need for the requested resource upgrades. Another major partnership initiative on the development of advanced energy harvesting and simultaneous wireless information and power transfer schemes in D2D communications and WSNs for IoT apps in smart homes & appliances is under intensive preparation. This second R&D project will unequivocally stand in need for similarly indispensable experimental prototyping phases and for the same required resource upgrades. And research work with such resources will offer students a unique added-value to their training and job readiness greatly appreciated by industry.*