Rutgers University, Georgia Institute of Technology and Lucent Bell Laboratories
The objective of this project is to build a high-performance experimental cognitive radio platform based on a novel network-centric architecture for software defined radios. Cognitive radio bands under consideration by the US FCC represent a new approach for co-existence between wireless devices based on intelligent adaptation to the observed radio frequency (RF) environment. Dynamic adaptation capabilities of cognitive radios range from frequency agility to more complex collaborative approaches in which radio nodes self-organize into an ad-hoc multi-hop network. In this project, we are developing an FPGA-based experimental platform which incorporates a number of cognitive radio capabilities including frequency agility, software-defined modulation, programmable etiquette and MAC protocols, and ad-hoc network routing. The hardware architecture contains a mix of software programmable and reconfigurable components, and incorporates a flexible packet processing engine for high-speed (~50 Mbps+) link and network layer functions. This project is a team effort involving the Wireless Information Networks Laboratory (WINLAB) at Rutgers University (cognitive radio systems, SDR, and low-power VLSI), Georgia Institute of Technology (agile RF front end) and Lucent Bell Laboratories (flexible radio platforms). The research program has the following thrusts: (1) system-level investigation of cognitive radio spectrum sharing scenarios, (2) design of agile RF transceivers for efficient reconfiguration of frequency, bandwidth and power, (3) architecture, design and validation of baseband and protocol processing modules for a cognitive radio with integrated PHY and networking capabilities, and (4) development of experimental cognitive radio platforms for use in system prototyping and field evaluation of cognitive radio usage scenarios.
