PROJECT OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this proposal is to optimize the interactions between different
components of a very high data rate wireless communications system so that the
geographical area over which communications can reliably take place is maximized.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION:
When very high data rates are transmitted over a wireless channel, the distance
over which such transmissions can take place is very limited. This is because
a higher data rate requires more power. Since a handheld terminal can only
transmit a fixed amount of power, due to many factors, such as health and battery
life considerations, the transmission range at high data rates can be significantly
smaller than the range at low data rates. Indeed, to the extent that high data
rates make sufficiently wide coverage unfeasible, the growth of broadband wireless
services will be limited. Thus, what we propose is an interdisciplinary research
program to determine the best techniques to maximize the coverage of high data
rate wireless communications systems. The results of the research being proposed
are relevant to either satellite or terrestrial systems for which peak power
limitations impose unacceptable restrictions on the size of cells/footprints.
TECHNICAL ABSTRACT:
The goal of this proposal is the design and performance analysis of wireless
systems which will maximize geographical coverage at high data rates. We propose
to study the transmission of voice, image and video data for both real-time and
non real-time applications. At high data rates, wide-area coverage becomes difficult
for mobile users. Because a mobile unit can only transmit at a relatively low power
level, the energy-per-bit that can be transmitted is necessarily low at high data
rates. To overcome this problem, we will explore wireless system topics that include
source coding (data compression), forward error correction coding and interleaving,
modulation, spreading, interference suppression, and network protocols. These
components share the available bandwidth, and are linked by delay and complexity
constraints. In particular, we will study the allocation of bandwidth among the
various system components for multipath/fading channels that include both intersymbol
interference and multiple access interference. Various aspects of the research apply
to terrestrial channels, others to satellite channels, and some to both.
PARTICIPATING FACULTY:
The following CWC faculty are participating in this research project: Pamela Cosman(lead PI),
Larry Milstein, Paul Siegel, Ken Zeger, Alon Orlitsky, and Geoff Voelker.
Affiliated Faculty
CoRe Research Projects