This project, developing a platform to overcome the barriers to high performance wireless testbeds, addresses a critical challenge in the shared quest to achieve pervasive high-speed wireless. The work explores how to evaluate and deploy innovative architectures, algorithms and protocols in a real-world environment, without incurring the high costs of conventional custom design cycles. The Wireless Open-Access Research Platform for Networks (WARPnet), built from the ground up, enables researchers, equipment vendors, and network operators to experiment with a vast array of network architectures using a shared set of tools. Key features to be found in WARPnet follow.
-Clean-Slate Programmability in Deployed Networks: WARPnet enables programming of completely clean-slate designs at any layer, while providing access to a rich set of both research and standardized algorithms and protocols at every layer. Furthermore, the WARPnet nodes can be programmed remotely even after deployment, which is crucial to validate, refine, and research new concepts in at-scale networks. -In-Depth Observability of AT-Scale Networks: WARPnet provides the ability to observe, record, and collect accurate state information at each node in the network at all network layers. The ability to collect fine-grain measurements is crucial to derive accurate network models, understand the impact of new protocols on network efficiency, and gain fundamental understanding of operational networks to facilitate on-line network management. -Open-Access Collaborative Development: The WARPnet open access repository provides a uniform environment for development of shared, inter-operable components. With both a common hardware and software platform, researchers can reproduce, compare and enhance network instantiations in their local deployments.
