Advanced WiFi studies: interference avoidance, indoor localization and cloud based management

在过去十年中，我们对使用WiFi（IEEE 802.11）标准的无线通信/服务的依赖一直在不断增长。 拟议的研究将在以下领域进行研究，这些领域对WiFi网络的可靠性和性能起着关键作用（特别强调使用新IEEE 802.11ac标准的系统） a）频谱分析以避免干扰。这项工作将侧重于使用集成在当前商用接入点（AP）中的合适硬件（芯片组）进行频谱分析。目标是确定干扰源和开发避免干扰的技术。可能的技术可以涉及每帧频谱整形或自适应信道跳频。 B）分布式WiFi包（帧）嗅探。该研究将检查数据包嗅探（可以在AP中实现）和数据转发到公共域分析器。该方法将使能在具有MU-MIMO能力的IEEE 802.11ac环境中的数据包嗅探。数据包捕获和分析是诊断WiFi网络异常或故障的重要工具。 c）室内定位/定位。无线设备（如智能手机、平板电脑等）的高精度室内定位在WiFi网络中是至关重要的，以实现新颖的基于位置的服务。目前的定位技术的精度在5- 8米的范围内，在某些情况下，精度可能会进一步降低。该领域的研究将研究通过采用IEEE 802.11ac的先进功能来提高精度的实时定位技术。 d）将WiFi管理迁移到云端。研究工作将研究软件定义网络（SDN）范式在WiFi管理迁移到云上的应用。目标是集成（作为服务/应用）a）-c）中介绍的用于干扰避免、数据包捕获/分析/记录和定位的频谱分析功能。

Our reliance on wireless communications/services using the WiFi (IEEE 802.11) standard has been constantly growing during the past decade. The proposed research will perform studies in the following areas that play a key role on the reliability and performance of WiFi networks (with particular emphasis on systems using the new IEEE 802.11ac standard) a) Spectral analysis for interference avoidance. The effort will focus on enabling spectral analysis using suitable hardware (chip-sets) that are integrated in current commercially available access points (AP's). The goal is the identification of interfering sources and development of techniques for avoiding interference. Possible techniques may involve per frame spectrum shaping or adaptive channel hoping. b) Distributed WiFi packet (frame) sniffing. The research will examine packet sniffing (that can be implemented in the APs) and data forwarding to a public domain analyzer. This approach will enable packet sniffing in IEEE 802.11ac environments with MU-MIMO capability. Packet capture and analysis is an important tool for diagnosing anomalies or malfunctions in WiFi networks. c) Indoor positioning/localization. Highly accurate indoor localization of wireless devices (such as smart phones, tablets etc.) is critical in a WiFi network to enable novel location based services. Current accuracy of positioning techniques are in the range of 5-8m and in some cases the accuracy can be compromised even further. The research in this area will study real-time localization techniques with improved accuracy by employing advanced features of IEEE 802.11ac. d) Migration of WiFi management to the cloud. The research effort will examine the application of the Software Defined Network (SDN) paradigm for the migration of WiFi management to the cloud. The goal is to integrate (as services/applications) the functionality of spectral analysis for interference avoidance, packet capture/ analysis/ logging and localization that were introduced in a)-c).