The objective of this project is to enable more efficient and reliable operation of autonomous femtocell networks with agile spectrum access, autonomous interference control, as well as intelligent network self-organization and self-optimization. This project falls into four interacted thrusts: 1) Incorporate cognition into the femtocell networks to cognitively reuse the available spectrum sensed; 2) Develop distributed, dynamic and cooperative interference management schemes exploiting antenna techniques and based on sensed environmental conditions; 3) Investigate the scenarios and schemes that femtocells can be exploited to facilitate macrocell transmissions, and the potential gains in capacity, coverage and reliability; 4) Incorporate interference cancellation for data multicast, and develop techniques to support multiuser video streaming. The project also develops a testbed with open source programmable wireless platforms, for prototyping and evaluating the effectiveness of various techniques developed.
The proposed research has the potential to significantly increase the capacity and resilience of existing and future wireless networks. The agility and resilience of the system will also make it instrumental to support communications and applications that are important for national security and economy. The PIs will facilitate technology transfer through their industrial partners and industry affiliate programs. Complementary to the research agenda, the project will carry out a broad range of education and outreach activities, including integration of research findings into the courses, promoting underrepresented and undergraduate populations, and engaging with the K-12 schools to raise the level of student interests in pursuing advanced education and career in the areas of engineering and mathematics.
