Entegra (2001-05)

Title: DSP software radio strategies for 4G communications strategies
Research Engineer: Steven Alexander BEng (Hons) MSc MIEE MIEEE
ISponsor: EnTegra
Academic Supervision: Prof Bob Stewart, University of Strathclyde

The project will look at candidate architectures for next generation mobile communication systems and progress from research, to development, and finally to SLI blueprints suitable for implementation.

Although deployment of 3G (3rd generation) mobile systems is currently running late, there is already significant interest in 4th generation (4G) systems. While 3G is known now as a specific standard (3GPP in Europe and Japan), 4G systems are more likely to be a collection of standards and systems allowing connection speeds of 10Mbits/s or more via 'wireless' (IEEE 802) or 'mobile' (3G, 3.5G) connections. The generic 'mobile' is likely to refer to systems run by operators or network providers where bandwidth is shared amongst paying subscribers, whereas the term 'wireless' is likely to be a home or company network where dedicated picocell basestations are available for a known set of user stations.

To enable 4G systems the general strategy of software or DSP radio will be particularly important. Efficient DSP architectures and algorithms will be necessary to implement this new generation of low power DSP/RF devices. The following research will be undertaken:

• Investigation of candidate 4G systems: IEEE 802, Ultra Wideband Radio etc
• Investigation of DSP enabled radio architectures for direct IF and RF processing
• Systems level integration (SLI) issues for low power DSP algorithm implementation

The project is extremely timely given that the definition of 4G expectations and implementations is likely to gather speed in the next 3-5 years.

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