This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project proposes to develop simulcasting techniques and algorithms that can be used to increase the throughput of the forward links (downlinks) of wireless cellular networks and local/metropolitan area networks. Simulcasting refers to the ability to simultaneously convey different messages to a selected group of receivers. Information-theoretic investigation on simulcasting is currently an active research area. Practical implementation of simulcasting in current and future generation wireless networks is in still its infancy. The goal of this project is to develop practical physical-layer signaling techniques and higher-layer protocols that support simulcasting. In Phase I, computer simulations will be used to investigate the performance of these algorithms and protocols under common channel models. In Phase II, the algorithms and protocols developed in Phase I will be prototyped on a software-defined radio (SDR) platform.
Channel spectrum is a precious commodity. The recent advances in cellular and wireless local area network (WLAN) technology make this especially true in the cellular and ISM bands. So techniques to use channel spectrum more efficiently are rapidly adopted once they have been proven. Simulcasting is one such technology that is currently mostly investigated from an information-theoretic standpoint. It is proposed to develop practical simulcasting techniques for cellular, WLAN, and wireless municipal area networks (WMANs).
