(BLACKSBURG, Va., Oct. 6 1999) -- The Center for Wireless Telecommunications (CWT) at Virginia Tech received funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) this summer to develop a suite of software tools for wireless network system design and layout.
The team developing the software call their tool set GETWEBS, for Geographic-Engineering Tool for Wireless: Evaluation of Broadband Systems. "This research is truly unique as it brings together students and faculty members from engineering, business, and the social sciences and involves both undergraduate and graduate students," says Laurence Carstensen, associate professor of geography and director of the project.
The three key components of the wireless industry that will be addressed by GETWEBS are: evolving wireless technology, wireless technology interaction with the environment, and system integration and deployment. Carstensen explains that applications include high speed Internet access for the "last mile" between a home or business and a hub that is connected by fiber. Other services could include multi-media delivery, wireless cable TV, telephony, on-demand music services, and teleconferencing.
Wireless delivery uses broadband frequency, so that in addition to convenience, information will be delivered much faster than Internet users are presently use to. "Speeds up to 155 Megabits are possible, making a one-hour modem download at 56K take less than two seconds," says Carstensen.
"Establishing wireless communications at these frequencies requires roughly line-of-sight between the transmitter and receiver," says Carstensen. "The environment into which the system is placed must be studied for line-of-sight to particular locations at which there is a market for a particular service.
The new funding will allow the integration of education and research to develop the needed tools for broadband wireless system evaluation with special emphasis on LMDS (Local Multipoint Distribution Services). LMDS is a two-way digital wireless communications medium that can carry voice, data and video traffic. Undergraduate and graduate students will be divided into teams to learn the fundamentals of several disciplines through the courses and opportunities offered by this project.
"A significant outcome of the research will be a group of Virginia Tech graduates with a diverse set of engineering, business, and spatial skills that are not being taught in combination anywhere else in the United States," says Carstensen.. "These students will leave the program with important science skills and technical abilities to work in the new multi-disciplinary occupations required in wireless telecommunications within the United States and around the world."
The NSF grant for $199,611 was awarded Aug. 16 for two years. CWT is successfully sending wireless services from campus to two locations in Blacksburg and gave a public demonstration in September (http://fbox.vt.edu:10021/ur/news/Archives/Sept99/99359.html).
Established in 1993, the CWT is a Technology Development Center of Virginia's Center for Innovative Technology. It is an interdisciplinary research center designed to help client companies develop new products and services using wireless and to provide a learning environment for graduate students that prepares them for jobs in wireless communications. CWT is the principal Virginia Tech research and teaching group in RF (radio frequency) design, wireless networks, satellites, and the geographic and business aspects of wireless technology.