A recent workshop hosted by the University of Notre Dame’s Wireless Institute brought leading wireless companies to campus to review the institute’s current research projects, identify grand challenges and potential collaborations, and lay the groundwork for a future Industry/University Cooperative Research Center at Notre Dame.
Representatives from major wireless companies Alcatel-Lucent, Intel, InterDigital, Nokia Solutions and Networks, Motorola Solutions and Qualcomm participated in the workshop with Wireless Institute faculty, University leaders and representatives from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
“The workshop was an exciting opportunity to have multiple corporations and University stakeholders in the same room and to prioritize research directions of highest value to the wireless industry going forward,” J. Nicholas Laneman, founding director of the Wireless Institute and associate professor of electrical engineering, said.
The participants identified the following areas as major research and development challenges for the wireless industry: wireless network architectures for dense deployments, such as major metropolitan areas and stadiums; spectrum sharing between commercial and government systems; multiband radio frequency circuits; millimeter wave measurements and technologies; and quality of experience data, metrics and analytics.
The workshop also advanced the creation of a cooperative research program between the Wireless Institute and the wireless industry, modeled after and supported by NSF’s Industry/University Cooperative Research Center (I/UCRC) program. I/UCRC are created to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry and the university or universities with which it is involved. Through this program, Notre Dame has the opportunity to become a site within a new Broadband Wireless Access and Applications Center (BWAC), which is a multi-university center led by the University of Arizona and including Auburn University, the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech.
“I have been involved in NSF I/UCRC centers for about six years,” Tamal Bose, BWAC director and professor and chair of electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Arizona, said. “This was one of the most well-organized, informative and productive workshops I ever attended.”
The Wireless Institute, which is housed in Notre Dame’s College of Engineering, is a leading multidisciplinary research center focusing on wireless technology, economics and regulatory policy that actively collaborates with industry and government agencies to address major challenges and develop solutions of great impact to society.
Contact: J. Nicholas Laneman, 574-631-8034, jnl@nd.edu
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on November 07, 2013.