Collaborative Intelligent Radio Systems for Congested Wireless Environments

Principal Investigator: Dr. Laneman, Department of Electrical Engineering

Project Summary: The Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), currently targeting a radio frequency (RF) band centered around 3.5 GHz, represents a breakthrough in wireless technology and policy in the United States. For the first time, widespread commercial cellular networks based upon 4G LTE / 5G NR technology are intelligently utilizing RF spectrum that has otherwise been exclusively reserved for government systems like Navy radars. As RF spectrum becomes more crowded, and sharing spectrum among very different commercial and government systems becomes the norm, wireless system engineers need to build radios and network services that are much more context-aware and collaborative compared to current designs, basically redesigning such systems from the ground up to be more resilience to interference in congested environments.

To address problems in this space, our team has been developing prototypes, models, and algorithms for what is being called a collaborative intelligent radio system (CIRS). A CIRS needs to be able to sense what is going on in the RF spectrum in and around its intended band of operation, and then adapt its transmission formats and receiver signal processing algorithms accordingly. Our radio prototypes are based upon software-defined radio (SDR), with which our team has extensive experience. Student projects involve learning how to use and develop for the prototyping platform, designing and implementing a set of new features, and testing and demonstrating those features to the group.

Student’s Role: The REU student will work with graduate students, a software engineer, and the faculty advisor to develop and test new radio models and signal processing algorithms for CIRS. Opportunities to develop courseware and participate in various wireless and spectrum challenges will also be available during the Summer and beyond.