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R&D Collaboration in Wireless Communications

R&D Collaboration in Wireless Communications. Joel S. Marciano Communications Engineering Laboratory Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering University of the Philippines Diliman. Preliminaries. What is wireless communications? Un-tethered communications

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R&D Collaboration in Wireless Communications

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  1. R&D Collaboration in Wireless Communications Joel S. Marciano Communications Engineering Laboratory Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering University of the Philippines Diliman

  2. Preliminaries • What is wireless communications? • Un-tethered communications • Propagation of communication signals over radio / air interface • How is it different? • Power levels regulated • Interference • Frequency use regulated • Multiple access • Wireless propagation medium “chaotic” • Link not as secure, rarely line-of-sight

  3. Activities in Wireless R&D • Design and implementation of • Radio transceivers • Antennas • RF printed circuit boards • RF Integrated Circuits (RFICs) • Modulation and multiple access schemes • Packet radio, TDMA, CDMA, etc • Efficient coding schemes • compression, error control

  4. Activities in Wireless R&D • Design and implementation of (Cont’d) • Upper stack and User applications • IPv6, WAP • Quality of Service (QOS) • Study and characterization of • Wireless medium • Propagation losses • Fading, multipath • Architectures for processing of communication signals

  5. Current Activities • UP EEE • Proof of concept • Wireless “gadgets” • Simulation using specialized software • Design, Characterization and system integration • Devices and circuits (up to 6 GHz) • RF ICs (LNAs, mixers) • RF printed circuit board characterization • Digital point-to-point microwave radio link • Low power transceivers • Testbed • Antenna array beamformer

  6. Current Activities • Elsewhere • SMS-based apps • Mobile banking, etc • Bluetooth protocol stack • IPv6 • 802.11b,g WLAN transceivers • Low bit-rate wireless personal area network (LR-WPAN)

  7. Current Activities At present, there’s really too little with much substance going on locally.

  8. Define “substance” • Wireless product • Developed locally, exported overseas • Defines a “niche”, competitive • Mass use • Upgrades way of life • Solves the rural telephony problem or the “last mile”, for example • Publishable and patentable • Look at Thailand

  9. Opportunities • Strong motivation • Let us link together our islands! • “Wireless-aware” country • Proliferation of mobile phones • Generally, we like “gadgets” • Global market

  10. Challenges • Manpower • Curriculum that is lacking • “voodoo science” • Engineers with advanced degrees (MS, PhD) • Where are the radio amateurs, enthusiasts? • Strong community of enthusiasts help build groundswell of support • Predominantly manufacturing-based industry • Which SMEs are doing wireless?

  11. Challenges • Components and Facilities • Expensive, highly-specialized equipment • Difficulty in procuring components • Lack of wireless “testbed” • For experimentation • To develop and test new techniques

  12. Manpower • The biggest issue • We cannot do wireless R&D if • Our ECE curriculum is not up-to-date • Our teachers lack experience • Our students do not get the requisite skills • We only have 10 engineers with MS degrees and 2 with PhDs • There are no opportunities for wireless research and development

  13. What We Can Do • Collaboration • Improve the curriculum • Set-up common, “free-for-all” wireless testbed • Encourage advanced degrees through scholarships • Grassroots activities • Road show • Wireless design competition in high schools • Similar to the micro-controller design competition • “Merge” wireless with more “exciting” stuff like robotics

  14. Collaboration • Academe-Academe • Pool expertise • Update curriculum • Open courseware • Cross enrollment • Enhance distance learning • Open up labs • Share facilities, testbeds • Publish together, Patent together, Perish together

  15. Collaboration • Industry-Academe • Share problems, solutions, needs • Solve the small problems first • SMART or Globe needs a GSM repeater? • Let’s look around before we outsource • Scholarships for advanced degrees • Encourage engineers to take MS, even PhD! • Afterwards, give them opportunities to apply their expertise • Logistical support • Help us get more experts in here! • Procurement of components • Design for Manufacturability (DFM)

  16. Testbeds • We need more of this stuff Microwave absorber floor Antenna Array Beamformer testbed

  17. Conclusion • Review curriculum • Stress fundamentals, the “physics of wireless” • Applications are good, but what if the technology changes? • R&D requires specialized workforce, but can manage and react to changes • Share resources • Open labs, share notes • MUTUALLY beneficial

  18. Conclusion • Get or produce more experts • Let’s have more scholarships • Create intrigue, interest • Grassroots-level • Design competitions sponsored by industry • Look around before outsourcing • For now, Start with small problems… then Work our way up to the bigger ones

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