NeTS: Small: Collaborative Research: Efficient Spectrum Access for Gbps WLANs in a Crowd of Legacy Networks

下一代 WLAN 协议将严重依赖频谱聚合来实现 Gbps 吞吐量。但聚合的宽带频谱可能严重未得到充分利用，甚至在与传统窄带信道重叠时出现匮乏。 随着WLAN协议的不断扩展和多样化，这种异构频谱共享变得越来越普遍，使共存成为一个基本问题和实际问题。本研究的目的是通过测量研究深入了解 Gbps 和传统 WLAN 的共存，开发优化驱动的协议以实现它们之间的高效频谱共享，并在中等规模的软件无线电测试台中验证协议。 所提出的解决方案提高了 MAC 层对异构频谱共享的感知，并通过细粒度频谱访问和机会频谱聚合对 PHY 层实施智能控制。 即使在大量低速率传统网络/设备中，它们也有潜力实现 Gbps 无线网络。通过解决异构频谱共享的关键问题，拟议的研究有助于加速 Gbps WLAN 的部署，从而提高数十亿 WiFi 最终用户的体验质量。 它还将培养具有理论和实践经验均衡结合的研究生，并综合他们在计算机科学和通信工程方面的知识。 本科生也将参与该项目，并得到 PI 机构本科生研究项目的补充支持。 PI 将与业界密切互动，以实现研究成果的可能转化。

Next-generation WLAN protocols will rely heavily on spectrum aggregation to achieve Gbps throughput. But the aggregated wideband spectrum may be severely underutilized and even starved when it overlaps with legacy narrowband channels. As WLAN protocols continue their expansion and diversification, such heterogeneous spectrum sharing becomes increasingly prevalent, raising coexistence as a fundamental problem and practical problem. The objective of this research is to gain insights into coexistence of Gbps and legacy WLANs through measurement studies, develop optimization-driven protocols to enable efficient spectrum sharing between them, and validate the protocols in a medium-scale software-radio testbed. The proposed solutions improve the MAC layer's awareness of heterogeneous spectrum sharing, and enforce intelligent control over the PHY layer through fine-grained spectrum access and opportunistic spectrum aggregation. They have the potential to realize Gbps wireless networking even in a crowd of low-rate legacy networks/devices.By addressing the key issues of heterogeneous spectrum sharing, the proposed research helps accelerate the deployment of Gbps WLANs which will, in turn, improve the quality of experience for billions of WiFi end-users. It will also train graduate students with a balanced mix of theory and hands-on experiences, and synthesize their knowledge in both computer science and communications engineering. Undergraduate students will also participate in this project, with the complementary support from the undergraduate research programs in the PI's institutions. The PIs will interact closely with industry for possible transitioning of the research results.