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

Research in radio technology reveals that the radio frequency spectrum could be shared among many users more effectively than by allocating fixed narrowband channels. Recently, regulations have appeared to assign blocks of non-channelized spectrum to mobile service providers. One example is the Ultra-wideband (UWB) technology. UWB communications have received significant interest from the research and industry communities. The reason for the increasing interest is because of its potential to offer high data rates, low-power transmission, robustness for multipath fading, and low power dissipation. A major challenge in implementing UWB systems for practical application is the difficulty in efficient signal distribution and processing, which includes the requirement of low-cost distribution of UWB signals over an access network, and the requirement of low-cost signal processing functions such as filtering and frequency conversion. The distribution of UWB over optical fiber, the convergence of the microwave and photonic techniques, has great potential to tackle this challenge. The proposed equipment would support our research in this new research area.