Daniel DePardo

KUAR: A Flexible Software-Defined Radio Development Platform

In this paper, we present the details of a portable, powerful, and flexible software-defined radio development platform called the Kansas University Agile Radio (KUAR). The primary purpose of the KUAR is to enable advanced research in the areas of wireless radio networks, dynamic spectrum access, and cognitive radios. The KUAR hardware implementation and software architecture are discussed in detail. Radio configurations and applications are presented. Future research made possible by this flexible platform is also discussed.

Feasibility of Dynamic Spectrum Access in Underutilized Television Bands

This paper presents the preliminary results from a feasibility study regarding the operation of secondary spectrum users within unused television spectrum. Television spectrum is known within the wireless communications community as being underutilized, making it a prime candidate for dynamic spectrum access. Nevertheless, the quality of this spectrum for enabling secondary transmissions has never been assessed. Two unique scenarios are examined:(i) the possibility of unlicensed devices interfering with digital TV reception, and (ii) the possibility of secondary users experiencing interference when operating within close proximity to television towers. With respect to the former, we investigate the critical operating parameters for developing the technical rules for device operation in bands adjacent to a digital television transmission. Regarding the latter, we examine, via measurement campaign, how non-ideal transmission properties of television broadcasts, including intermodulation and saturation effects, can potentially impair the performance of secondary transmissions.

COGNITIVE RADIOS FOR DYNAMIC SPECTRUM ACCESS - An Agile Radio for Wireless Innovation

We present the details of a portable, powerful, and flexible software-defined radio development platform called the Kansas University Agile Radio (KUAR). The primary purpose of the KUAR is to enable advanced research in the areas of wireless radio networks, dynamic spectrum access, and cognitive radios. We describe the KUAR hardware implementation and software architecture and present example application of the KUAR to modulation, spectrum measurement, channel estimation, and rapid configuration and adaptation. We outline research directions enabled by the KUAR

Experiences from a Transportation Security Sensor Network Field Trial

Cargo shipments are subject to hijack, theft, or tampering. Furthermore, cargo shipments are at risk of being used to transport contraband, potentially resulting in fines to shippers. The Transportation Security Sensor Network (TSSN), which is based on open software systems and Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles, has been developed to mitigate these risks. Using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware, the TSSN is able to detect events and report those relevant to appropriate decision makers. Prior to deploying the TSSN it should be determined if the system can provide timely event notification. A field experiment was conducted to assess the TSSNs suitability for monitoring rail-borne cargo. Log files were collected from this experiment and postprocessed. In this paper we present empirical results on the time taken to report events using the TSSN. These results show that the TSSN can be used to monitor rail-borne cargo. Index Terms—Service oriented architecture, Mobile Rail Net- work, Trade Data Exchange, Virtual Network Operations Center

Using Functional Programming to Generate an LDPC Forward Error Corrector

FPGAs as commodities offer a resource for high-performance computation that is unmatched in flexibility and price/performance. As a lab, we are interested in high-level descriptions of computation and data, and how they may be customized to map effectively on FPGA fabrics. This paper describes our tool-chain, approach and methodology to FPGA utilization. We give a case study of the generation of a low density parity checking forward error correction algorithm, and discuss the specific challenges we faced with using FPGAs as our target.

An Open-System Transportation Security Sensor Network: Field-Trial Experiences

Cargo shipments are subject to hijack, theft, or tampering. Furthermore, cargo shipments are at risk of being used to transport contraband, potentially resulting in fines to shippers. The Transportation Security Sensor Network (TSSN), which is based on open software systems and service-oriented architecture principles, has been developed to mitigate these risks. Using commercial off-the-shelf hardware, the TSSN can detect and report events that are relevant to appropriate decision makers. However, field testing is required to validate the system architecture and to determine if the system can provide timely event notification. Field experiments were conducted to assess the TSSNs suitability to monitor rail-borne cargo. Log files were collected from these experiments and were postprocessed. We present the TSSN architecture and results of field experiments, including the time taken to report events using the TSSN and the interaction between various components of the TSSN. These results show that the TSSN architecture can be used to monitor rail-borne cargo.

Anomaly Detection with Sensor Data for Distributed Security

There has been increasing interest in incorporating sensing systems into objects or the environment for monitoring purposes. In this work we compare approaches to performing fully-distributed anomaly detection as a means of detecting secu- rity threats for objects equipped with sensing and communication abilities. With the desirability of increased visibility into the cargo in the transport chain and the goal of improving security, we consider the approach of equipping cargo with sensing and communication capabilities as a means of ensuring the security of the cargo as a key application. We have gathered real sensor test data from a rail trial and used the collected data to test the feasibility of the anomaly detection approach. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach. I. INTRODUCTION