1160924 Pennsylvania State University; Mohsen Kavehrad 1161010 Georgia Tech; Gee-Kung Chang
The Center for Optical Wireless Applications (COWA) will focus on generating technology that enables manufacturing of specific devices with larger communications capacity, employing integrated opto-electronics device design with interfaces necessary to facilitate collaborative device, system and network design. Pennsylvania State University (PSU) and Georgia Tech (GT) are collaborating to establish the proposed center, with PSU as the lead institution.
The objective of this proposal is to establish an NSF-sponsored Industry & University Cooperative Research Center on Optical Wireless Applications (COWA), in order to explore Optical Wireless Technology and economic potentials of energy efficient light sources through innovative designs and applications of solid-state optical sources and detectors for a wide range of practices that include optical imaging, remote sensing, communications and networking. The envisioned Center is based on the integration of interdisciplinary expertise at PSU, and GT with devices and systems-based engineering design and networking concepts.
The envisioned Center will include efforts to instill the cultural paradigm shift associated with promoting research programs of interest to both industry and universities; exploring and extending the interface between engineering systems design, networking and integrated electro-optic device designs; improving the intellectual capacity of the workforce through industrial participation and conduct of high-quality research projects; and developing curriculum in components, systems and networks design aspects of optical wireless applications. The results of this research are expected to contribute to the business competitiveness, energy security, environmental protection, and climate forecast. The proposed Center will make every effort to promote diversity. In addition, it will work with existing university resources to recruit and build strong relationships with minority and women-owned companies.
COWA Project Outcome Intellectual Merit - The Georgia Tech site of the COWA I/UCRC has consistently laboured to develop novel and implementable concepts in wireless and optical fiber wired communication, striking a balance between a concept's performance and elegance, its implementation simplicity, its cost effectiveness and return on investment. Georgia Tech has formulated, proposed and experimentally verified novel network technologies that have been consistently presented in peer-review papers and orally at the prestigious annual Optical Fiber Conferences (OFC). Eight papers were accepted and presented in 2015 on representative topics such as "Generalized Frequency Division Multiplexing for Photonic Assisted Millimetre wave Aggregation", "high Density Millimetre Wave CoMP Transmission Based on Centralized SFBC in Radio Over Fiber Systems" and "Demonstration of 120 Gb/s Full Duplex Signal Transmission Over Fiber Wireless Fiber Network at W Band". These and five other topics presented at the 2015 OFC, each originated from a student concept, were analytically scrutinized by student peers and professors, and were eventually demonstrated by the work of second and third year graduate students who are encouraged to think critically and analytically and to discuss their ideas in collegial fora, subject to questions by their peers and professors. Proof of the efficacy of the minds-on, hands-on method of teaching and learning is the number of innovations that students report yearly in premier, peer-review journals and conferences, and the rapidity with which these student continue their creative pursuit upon joining communication network companies. Legacy communication networks are evolving and will continue to evolve. While no dramatic improvements are expected in the long haul or core network in the near future, mobile fronthaul and backhaul are evolving rapidly to accommodate the very rapid increase in volume and bandwidth that is anticipated in mobile connectivity. The reason for the rapid expansion in fronthaul capacity is attributable to the projected growth of global mobile traffic over the next six years. Global mobile service providers project a 1000-fold expansion in wireless traffic by the year 2020, brought about by the growth of new users, in part, due to the densification of users in expanding urban areas and service affordability. Additional user volume is anticipated as the "Internet of Things", the network of cyber physical subsystems accessed through the Internet by virtue of embedded sensors, processors and wireless communication technology, continue to gain traction. These physical subsystems are designed to sense aspects of their environment or of the equipment or person being monitored and to communicate status and actionable information (intelligently processed data) with autonomous processor networks elsewhere, or with human interfaces for human decision making and action. Broader Impact - An Information and Communication Network comprising seamlessly integrated optical, RF, millimeter wave technologies will not only drive business innovation and growth, but will be a vital gateway for economic and societal growth and further scientific and engineering innovations. The continuing rise of the relevance of social media is an important part of how we interact with the Internet and with one another, and enables new kinds of intelligent analytics ready to be harnessed for tangible business, education, health and everyday life benefits. Outcomes of the projects undertaken at the Georgia Tech Site of the COWA I/UCRC, continue to harness the innovative technologies of student innovators and continue to disseminate that knowledge to benefit U. S. competitive industrial offerings for the 5G and next generation mobile communications and high performance fiber-wireless access technologies for cloud computing. In the process of teaching and learning, Georgia Tech continues to teach generations of advanced engineers critical thinking and new knowledge for a domestic skilled workforce. Through its leadership, the Georgia Tech COWA Site is mindful of the wireless and wired communication industry competitiveness. Communication network infrastructures are experiencing continued pressure to accommodate increasing throughput while service providers seek to provide energy efficient services over denser and wider areas of coverage at marketable cost. To answer the projected technical challenges the European Union has constituted the "Mobile and wireless communications Enablers for the Twenty-twenty Information Society (METIS)" consortium comprising 5 telecommunications equipment vendors, 5 service providers, 13 academic institutions and one automobile manufacturer, joined by DOCOMO and Huawei. In response, China has constituted the "IMT-2020 (5G)" program promoted by 3 ministries to establish a 5G platform and facilitate cooperation with foreign companies and organizations. Similarly, Korea has organized the "5G Forum" as a cooperation among South Korea, China, Japan and Europe to set global standards for 5G mobile technology. In contrast, coordinated consortium activity in the Americas is not in evidence. Research in wireless networks in the Americas is taking place in various universities, sometimes as short-term thematic projects with private industry, funded though government grants, or a combination of the two. It is one of Georgia Tech's goals to facilitate greater pre-competitive coordination in a vital domestic communication industry.
