SBIR Phase I: Programmable, Scalable Wireless Information Infrastructure

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This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project from Vanu, Inc. provides a plan for the research and development of a programmable, scalable wireless information infrastructure based on software radio technology. The system will support all of the signal processing for many digital wireless communications systems entirely in application level software on a cluster of commercial off-the-shelf PCs. This approach enables significant flexibility, through software upgrades, that can overcome many of the limitations of current wireless communications systems. For example, the cellular telephony infrastructure utilizes hardware-based signal processing in base stations. Adding new services or migrating to new standards requires time consuming and costly hardware upgrades. With a software radio infrastructure, these changes can be executed by simply downloading software. This capability will accelerate the pace of innovation in the wireless marketplace, reduce the risk associated with deployment of new services and reduce the barrier to entry for firms with innovative services, such as wireless broadband internet access and cable television services. The research objectives are as follows: design of a robust, scalable, distributed software radio infrastructure for real-time signal processing; design of a load balancing algorithm; evaluation of the computational requirements for advanced digital communications systems; and the determination of feasibility of this approach in a commercial context.Vanu, Inc.'s proffered technology with be the basis for a commercial software radio product that will permit the deployment of any wireless stand or service as a software upgrade. The firm also intends to benefit the academic community by creating a platform to support university research in wireless communication and networking.