A real time MIMO OFDM testbed for cognitive radio & networking research

Abstract

A real time, 2 Mbps to 200 Mbps portable radio unit with MIMO and sensing capability which exposes all the PHY parameters to the higher layers will help advance experimental cognitive radio (CR), and wireless networking research. Collaboration between Silvus Communication Systems and the UCLA WISR group has resulted in the first generation radio specifically designed to meet the needs of the CR and wireless networking community. The current platform is based on a COTS FPGA platform with dual-band RF capabilities. It implements a slight variant of the 802.11n draft spec. It is a fully self contained PHY solution with over 100 unique modes of operation. Moreover it features a robust API to the MAC through which all PHY parameters can be controlled on a per-packet basis. The same API will allow the PHY to communicate channel state information, SNR, and RSSI measurements to the MAC. A 16 micro-second packet decode latency ensures that the PHY processing does not inhibit the system's fast response to changing channel and interference condition.