This project, building two complementary testbeds for cooperative networking, responds to the fading and multipath distortion, as well as interference caused by multiple users operating over a limited bandwidth, often suffered by wireless communication systems. Respectively, each testbeds will . Use open source drivers for backward compatibility with the current WiFi technology based on the IEEE 802.11 standard. This approach uses a standard, non-cooperative physical layer since it is not possible to access the physical layer in commercial products. . Be based on software defined radio, allowing maximum flexibility in the implementation of a cooperative physical layer, a cooperative medium access control (MAC) layer as well as cross-layer design. Cooperative networking, where two or more active users in the network share their resources to jointly transmit their messages, provides resistance to fading, high throughput/low delay and reduced interference/low transmitted power. This infrastructure, leveraged in part by the WARP platform at Rice U, the ORBIT testbed at Rutgers U, and the CRAWDAD database at Dartmouth U, provides an open-access platform that will be used to build experimental deployable and scalable cooperative wireless networks, enabling current techniques to be moved beyond the current theoretical and simulation studies. The testbeds validate the feasibility of cooperative networking, enable platforms where new algorithms can be tested, and lead to new theory founded on more realistic assumptions.
Broader Impacts: This first effort in implementing a fully cooperative network is expected to accelerate commercial developments in the field and impact current wireless standards. It facilitates a closer relationship with industry. Moreover, the infrastructure contributes to train students and service new courses.
