SDR'11-WInnComm Invited Presentations

Joe Madden, Mobile Experts
Read Bio

Bob Bailey, CAER
Read Bio

Talk title: A Heterogeneous Cognitive Radio Testbed: An Industry-University Collaboration

The Center for Advanced Engineering and Research (CAER) is a nonprofit organization that brings together local industry and universities to conduct applied research and development projects that lead to commercialization of new technologies. One of the key research focus areas for the CAER is cognitive radio, due to the presence of a significant wireless communications industry cluster in the region.  The CAER is developing a heterogeneous cognitive network testbed for both basic and applied research at a new research facility in Bedford County, Virginia. This testbed is heterogeneous in at least three ways: it provides indoor and outdoor coverage; it deploys multiple cognitive radio hardware and software platforms; and it includes both static and mobile nodes. This effort is led by the CAER in collaboration with Virginia Tech, while leveraging ties to other private sector partners, universities and laboratories.

Cognitive radio research initially focused on dynamic spectrum access, in particular the efficient use of TV white spaces through opportunistic transmission. As the field evolves, it is important to explore a broader array of applications enabled by the development of cognitive radios and networks. The proposed testbed is designed to enable research by academic and industrial partners on these emerging topics, from the introduction of cognitive radios in future generations of cellular networks, to their use in wireless distributed computing. This presentation will provide an overview of the CAER as an industry-university collaboration, a brief description of the wireless communications cluster in the CAER’s region, a description of the heterogeneous cognitive radio testbed and an overview of the research activities that will be enabled by the testbed.