COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Current Research Projects
Title: Development of WiMAX Testbed
Team Members: Imran Ali, Beenish Niaz, Wajid Mumtaz
Abstract: Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN), one of the recently proposed standards and a potential candidate for 4G, is based upon on IEEE standard 802.16d/e and is commonly known as WiMAX. In this project, our focus is to develop the testbed of the WiMAX which is fully compatible with IEEE 802.16 standard. The tested shall not only be used for field tests and experiments but also serve the educational purpose for the related people in the industry and academia. To facilitate the design process, modular approach is used for its development. The baseband processing will be implemented at software level in the first phase of the project.
Title: ATS: Ultra Wide Band Radar Based Tamper-Resistant Clinical Asset Tracking System
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Ayesha Hameed
Abstract: From a patient safety perspective, time-consuming searches for life saving equipments or drugs have been the subject of a hazard report. In addition to yielding significant time saving Asset Tracking Systems (ATS) ensure all assets tracking. In this work, an Ultra Wide Band (UWB) tracking system will be developed, that will automatically captures the movement of in-house patients and clinical stuff. In addition to helping staff locate equipment, our ATS will facilitate the use and distribution of inventory by collecting and facilitating the analysis of data on equipment location over time and hence prone to be tampered.
Title: UWB – CMTS: On-Site Ultra Wide Band Construction Material Tracking System
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Ayesha Hameed
Abstract: On-site building material and construction tools management offers a big challenge to traditional asset tracking systems. In the same vein, when construction machinery mobility is very frequent, data collection is often onerous for busy construction crews. Construction managers determine the best way to track building material, construction tools and equipment to rationally layout the most cost-effective plan and schedule for completing the project. In contrast to conventional asset tracking schemes such as Radio Frequency IDs (RFID), Infra Red IDs (IRID), Tagged IDs (TID) to name a few, we will use Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology in our project, that is relatively new and gaining researchers interest in imaging as well as in tracking.
Title: CANDLE: Early Stage Breast Cancer Detection Framework
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Ayesha Hameed
Abstract: Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy among women in Pakistan. About half (43.7%) of all breast cancers are locally advanced accounting to 40,000 deaths per year. Due to the low contrast between cancer and normal tissue observed in X-ray imagery, mammography has a high false negative rate (4% - 34%) and a high false positive rate (70%). Thus, techniques that image other physical tissue properties are vital to explore. This project aims at investigating microwave imaging for early-stage Breast Cancer Detection (BCD).
Title: Detect and Avoid Mechanisms for UWB-WiMAX Coexistence
Team Members: Asmara Khan, Syed Ayaz Bin Zahid, Syed Saqib Hussain, Talha Ghaffor
Abstract: This project aims a quantitative interference analysis using Desired to Undesired (D/U) signal power ratio as well as verification of results using an equipment-based Wimax testbed. Finally, the D/U ratio results will be used to determine minimum keep-out distance and the sensing threshold level for DAA in a UWB device.
Title: Development of CDMA2000 Testbed
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Muhammad Adnan Qureshi, Imran Ali
Abstract: A CDMA2000 Communication standard ranges in 2G and 3G family of standard which is based upon CDMA air interface. The standard has undergone several enhanced and supplemented versions, among which are the 1xRTT and EVDO which are respectively the 2.5 and 3G counterparts of the standard. The standard is a registered trademark of Telecommunication Industry Association (TIA) in USA and is compatible with older CDMA standards developed by Qualcomm. In this work we developed a fully functional MATLAB GUI environment, which helps the user to enter the see the impact of parameter change on the data and channel characteristics of the CDMA2000 or UMTS standards.
Title: The GSM Testbed
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Syed Yasir Imtiaz, Imran Ali
Abstract: The Global Systems for Mobile Communications (GSM) is the most commonly used standard in the world. The GSM testbed project has already crossed the initial testing stage using the MATLAB simulations. The MATLAB programs have been developed to assume the typical GSM scenarios and the results so obtained match the published results for the standard. The next phase of the project will be the hardware implementation of the standards. Besides that, the manuals are also been developed to accompany the testbed for understanding of its operation as well as the academic purposes.
Title: VehiTEC: Automated Engine Tuning System for CAN Bus Based Modern Vehicles
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Muhammad Umer Farooq
Abstract: The project will explore the factors that lead to the suboptimal performance of vehicle. The researchers would develop a mathematical model for Controller Area Network (CAN) bus based Automated Engine Tuning System (AETS). Mathematical model shall be simulated in Labview. The result of model would then be validated using a test rig of CAN bus based engine. Faults would be introduced in the simulation model and its behavior would be studied using simulation in Labview. Algorithms would be developed to detect and isolate the faults in the system. Controllers shall be developed so that the vehicle performance would be kept as optimal as possible even in the presence of faults. Finally user-friendly software will be developed for user guidance and an embedded system would be developed to acquire the data and isolate the faults using data acquired. The project of modeling of CAN bus based engine and its associated systems is research oriented and the research students working on modeling would pursue their Ph.D. work in this project. The area of fault diagnostics and isolation is also research oriented and research assistant working in this area would complete their Ph.D. during this research. Software development and development of diagnostics kits would be carried out so that the outcome of the research can become directly usable for the local industry. This project is oriented to the development of hardware and software based low cost tools for the automobile users aimed to fulfill the following requirements: Low cost indigenous design affordable to automobile mechanics and users, Software should help to improve the performance of their vehicle to achieve the objectives of reduction of environmental pollution in country, Saving of fuel and enable the country to save fuel efficiency.
Title: RAIDER: Dual Frequency Band RFID Testbed
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Muhammad Umar Farooq
Abstract: Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is the advance automatic techniques which use RF waves for Identification of multiple objects at a time; hence along with increase in range, object count per unit time also increases. We shall implement a flexible system called Testbed with the help of rapid prototyping approach, which utilizes high speed DSP kits, Reconfigurable IO boards i.e. FPGA boards, ADC boards etc. Various Testbeds are developed by different universities and companies like University of Vienna Austria (Flexible Dual frequency (LF and UHF) Testbed for RFID, Testbed to assess new antenna design for tag by Georgia Institute of Technology USA. In collaboration with these research labs, we shall implement a Dual Frequency Testbed (UHF and Microwave) which will incorporate generic features for e.g., microwave standards, ISO standards conformance tests, Interrogator transponder protocols etc.
Title: Anti-collision Algorithms for Collision Detection & Avoidance
Team Members: Muhammad Umar Farooq
Abstract: Traditional networks use point-to-point channels for the cost effective communication, but they perform poorly wherever dynamic topologies are appeared. To make a transmission successful interference must be avoided or at least controlled. The channel then becomes the shared resource whose allocation is critical for proper operation of the network. Such access schemes are called multi-access protocols. We implemented various Anti-collision protocols successfully in Matlab to investigate their performance. These techniques are Pure ALOHA, Slotted ALOHA, non-persistent CSMA and slotted np-ISMA. Some more advance protocols like tree based protocols and collision avoidance protocols will also be implemented in Matlab. Currently the FPGA implementation of these Matlab implemented protocols is in progress.
Title: Software Platform for EPC Global UHF RFID Air Interface
Team Members: Muhammad Umar Farooq
Abstract: EPC global is leading the development of industry-driven standards for the Electronic Product Code™ (EPC) to support the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) in today’s fast-moving, information rich, trading networks. We propose a platform to implement physical and logical requirements for a passive-backscatter, Interrogator Talk First (ITF), RFID system operating in 860MHz to 960MHz frequency range. This platform will enable us to test different modulation techniques (like ASK, PSK, DSB- ASK, SSB-ASK, PR-ASK), Encoding techniques (like Pulse Interval Encoding PIE, Miller baseband encoding, FM0 encoding), Tag antenna reflection coefficients and backscattering.
Title: FoTON: Fault Tolerant Optical Network in The Last Mile
Team Members: Syed Abdul Mannan Kirmani, Tayyab Rasul
Abstract: Many new applications and services have emerged amidst the rapid growth of internet and telecommunications industry demanding high speed connectivity till the first / last mile. So to cope with this rising demand more and more companies are deploying optical fiber networks till the client’s premises. The main issue with optical networks in the developing countries like Pakistan is the network failure due to fiber cuts. In metropolitan area ring networks are deployed so that the traffic can be rerouted in case of fiber cuts thus reducing the network restoration time but in the last mile deploying a ring network might not be feasible in all cases, due to congested urban environment and associated high costs of optical fiber deployment. So another feasible alternative is to provide an optical wireless link to clients that require high availability and reliable service at all times. In case of any link failure due to fiber cuts, the network traffic would be rerouted instantaneously to the optical wireless link. Our research is directed towards the design and placement of these optical wireless links so that the network may recover instantaneously from any failures and provide reliable high speed connectivity.
Title: Urban Optical Wireless Communication (UOWC) Network
Team Members: Syed Abdul Mannan Kirmani
Abstract: The growing customer demands for bandwidth intensive services are accelerating the need to design an efficient “last mile” access network in a cost effective manner. Thus, besides its enormous transport capacity, today’s access infrastructure should bring operational efficiencies and the convenience of mobility to end users. In this scenario, Urban Optical Wireless Communication (UOWC) Network is a prime choice as an effective means of transferring data at high rates in the first / last mile. In UOWC Network light beams propagating through the atmosphere carry the information from the transmitter to the receiver. UOWC boasts many advantages over its rivals. Notably, UOWC facilitates rapidly deployable, lightweight, high-capacity communication without licensing fees and tariffs. However, UOWC still faces many challenges, including how to improve communication performance in adverse weather conditions (like fog) or during wind sway. Our research is focused on presenting and evaluating novel approaches on network level to deal with these issues and enable UOWC Network to bridge the last mile gap.
Title: Wavelength Division Multiplexing – Passive Optical Network
Team Members: Syed Abdul Mannan Kirmani, Tayyab Rasul
Abstract: To support the introduction of new high-speed services and the consequent growing bandwidth demand, operators are moving to the adoption of a fiber-based access network. Multimedia and video services to residential users (broadcast, on-demand, or interactive high-quality video services), applications such as users-provided contents and other interactive applications – such as entertainment/gaming, educational services and so on – need a bandwidth (in terms of both peak and guaranteed bandwidth) and a quality of service that can only be guaranteed by an optical access network. The passive optical network (PON) is an optical fiber based network architecture, which can provide much higher bandwidth in the access network compared to traditional copper-based networks. Incorporating wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) in a PON allows one to support much higher bandwidth compared to the standard PON, which operates in the “single – wavelength mode” where one wavelength is used for upstream transmission and a separate one is used for downstream transmission. The WDM – PON is a revolutionary and scalable broadband access technology that will provide much higher bandwidth to end users. There is a broad consensus on WDM – PON as the target structure to provide an ultra-fast and reliable access to Internet and other shared network resources, but the huge investments needed has until now slowed down its introduction, limiting massive deployments of WDM – PON and pushing for the research and development of a cost efficient WDM – PON Network architecture and protocol.
Title: Wireless Sensor Networks in Automobiles
Team Members: Dr. Naeem Zafar Azeemi, Muhammad Umar Farooq
Abstract: Modern automobiles have typically hundreds of sensors for different tasks, such as safety, navigation and engine condition monitoring. However to collect data using typical wired sensor networks has always been expensive, as the installation and maintenance costs are very high. A typical advance automobile has many kilometers of cables to connect the sensors. WSN (Wireless Sensors Network) is a term used to describe an emerging class of embedded communication products that provide redundant, fault-tolerant wireless connections between sensors, actuators and controllers. Compared to wired networks WSNs can provide better Ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions, node failures, mobility of nodes and can have a large scale of deployment. In an automobile a WSN must be able to provide several types of technical information to the user, the technical data can include fuel consumption, identification of wrong tire pressure, acknowledgment of illumination failures (turn lights, brake lights and front lights etc). For the transmission and processing of the signals MICAz ZigBee (MPR2400) operating at 2.4GHz will be used along with the TinyOs. TinyOs is an open source operative system developed for WSNs. It is of small size and is already been used by crossbow to trace automobile parts for the industry purpose. The MIB510 interface board will be connected to a computer by using the serial port, and the MICAz MTS310 sensor node will be used to connect the sensors that are not on the board via the Digi-Key H2163-ND connector. The tire pressure sensor, light sensor, temperature sensor and the acceleration sensors will be used, and all the data will be finally monitored by the computer.
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