Rice CMC Lab Projects - Gnomes Sensor Network

Rice University Center for Multimedia Communications

Research Laboratory

MIMO Antenna System - Wireless LAN Networks - Gnomes Sensor Network

The Center for Multimedia Communication at Rice University has an integrated program of research and education in wireless systems including wireless cellular, wireless LAN, and wireless Sensor Networks. On this page are several recent photos and video clips of research projects in the lab.

Additional August 2005, CMC research videos of the Transit Access Point Hardware, FGPA Based Daughtercard for TI's C6000 DSKs, FPGA Implementation of SISO OFDM Transceiver, the GNOMES Sensor Network, and DSP Laser Spectroscopy are on the CMC Lab Projects page.

Research in the Rice University Center for Multimedia Communication Laboratory is supported in part by the National Science Foundation, the State of Texas, Nokia Mobile Phones, Texas Instruments, Inc., and National Instruments. In particular, many of the specialized test instruments including the Spirent wireless channel emulator were acquired through support by NSF awards:
EIA-0224458: CISE Research Resources: A Comprehensive Multi-tier Wireless Network Development Platform; PI's: Joseph Cavallaro, J. Patrick Frantz, Ashutosh Sabharwal, Edward Knightly, and Behnaam Aazhang. See the following research nuggets: NSF 2003 Lab Projects, NSF 2004 Wireless LAN Mobility, NSF 2004 Wireless Sensor Network, and NSF 2005 Wireless Testbed OFDM Link.
EIA-0321266: MRI: Development of a National University Wireless Testbed: Rice Configurable Baseband Architecture; PI's: Joseph Cavallaro, J. Patrick Frantz, Behnaam Aazhang, and Ashutosh Sabharwal. See the following research nuggets: NSF 2004 Alamouti Multiple Transmit Antenna Implementation.

WLAN 11b Emulator Configuration
GNOMES Sensor Nodes
Multiple Antenna Testbed

Wireless LAN and MIMO FPGA Testbed

At Rice, the research focus is in new communication architectures that reconfigure based on the network availability, channel conditions and data rate requirements of a handset. The prototype architectures contain custom signal processing algorithms for the physical layer of wireless communication systems and are being implemented on Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) chips connected to high speed digital to analog (D/A) and analog to digital (A/D) converters. The digital baseband is then connected to custom RF radios in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. Realistic wireless channel conditions can be included through the use of real-time channel emulators in the Rice CMC Lab.

Furthermore, by designing algorithms with multiple transmit and receive antennae, we are developing new communications coding and feedback methods for high data rate wireless access. The new algorithms will be prototyped on the reconfigurable baseband platform, and stress tested in different wireless configurations for their robustness, performance limits and power efficiency. Initial stages in the prototyping of MIMO systems are underway.

The photographs and video on this page illustrate the design and testing of a digital baseband signal generated in real-time on a Xilinx FPGA. In the video clip narrated by Rice graduate student, Feifei Lou, she describes the architecture and testing of a baseband signal suitable for wireless LAN transmission.

WLAN constellations
WLAN signal generation
FPGA Baseband board

Constellation 2Mbps
Constellation 2Mbps
Power mask
Spectrum 1Mbps

FPGA Quicktime Movie (18MB)
FPGA RealPlayer Movie (4MB)

Gnomes Sensor Network Testbed

The Gnomes Sensor Network is composed of low-cost custom nodes designed and built at Rice University. Each node contains a Texas Instruments microcontroller, sensors and a wireless communications devices (typically Bluetooth). The Gnomes node has both battery and solar cells for power and can also be outfitted with a GPS receiver for position information. Low-power operation is one of the primary goals of Gnomes. Applications include remote monitoring of structures in collaboration with the Civil Engineering Department. Rice graduate student, Erik Welsh, narrates the overview of the Gnomes project in the video clip.

Gnomes Prototypes

GNOMES Quicktime Movie (16MB)

RealPlayer Movie (4MB)

About the Laboratory Environment

The CMC Lab located in Duncan Hall contains specialized test equipment for the design and test of advanced wireless communication systems. The lab contains Spirent channel emulators, an Agilent high frequency signal generator and spectrum analyzer, a Tektronix logic analyzer and digital oscilloscope, and a National Instruments RF downconverter. The CMC Lab contains Texas Instruments DSP development systems along with several Xilinx Virtex development systems, and custom RF transmitters and receivers at 2.4GHz for a complete end-to-end link. The Lab also has CAD software for DSP, FPGA, ASIC, and PCB design. In addition to graduate research, the CMC Lab sponsors annually about ten undergraduate design projects and several summer NSF REU projects. The lab has also hosted international exchange students from Finland and Thailand, along with Micron Corporation Scholars.

Research publications of the Center can be found in the CMC Document's Database. Contact Joe Cavallaro, cavallar@rice.edu, or Patrick Frantz, jpfrantz@rice.edu, for further information. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Last Updated: November 2005

WLAN constellations	WLAN signal generation	FPGA Baseband board
Constellation 2Mbps	Constellation 2Mbps	Power mask	Spectrum 1Mbps
FPGA Quicktime Movie (18MB)	FPGA RealPlayer Movie (4MB)