Video (in French, Jérôme Vernez). Poster

The PULSERS (Pervasive Ultra-wideband Low Spectral Energy Radio Systems) project aims at exploration of the enormous potential of the innovative and disruptive radio technology embodied in Ultra-Wideband (UWB) and at enabling introduction of new services, applications and devices based on this technology.

PULSERS Main Objectives:

The Key objective of PULSERS is to provide significant contributions in the area of R&D related to UWB-Radio Technology (UWB-RT) with the ulti- mate goal of providing benefits to human, inter-machine and mixed communication needs. Bringing together experts on the topic from various European countries and cooperating with important UWB players from Asia, the PULSERS R&D organisations coming from key industrial and academic communities have the necessary critical mass to strongly advance the state-of-the-art and further the deployment of UWB-RT in Europe and world-wide.

PULSERS aims at realising the following major objectives:

Materialise consolidated user application scenarios
Provide UWB system solution verification platforms
Perform interference and coexistence investigations
Continue providing significant influence on regulation and standardisation on European and world wide level – Further development and verification of key technologies – Provide advanced technologies enabling large scale UWB exploitation

Technical Approach

The R&D work is system and integration rather than basic technology research oriented. The approach taken in Phase II is to leverage and build upon the investigations performed in the previous phase (2004 – 2005), maturing and realising the UWB physical layer (PHY), media access control (MAC), and system concepts developed. The research activities are considered within a system context, inherently leading to the development of comprehensive UWB-RT system solutions that are able to peaceful coexist and interoperate. The work on Low Data Rate Location racking (LDR-LT) and Very High Data Rate (VHDR) PHY will be aimed at significantly more ambitious performance targets than the current mainstream industrial developments. These goals can only be attained using a cross layer system view, and combining the benefits of innovative solutions on all layers. Specific investigations of the PHY for LDR-LT, and VHDR UWB-RT applications will be continued as well. PHY and MAC schemes will be investigated and implemented that go beyond the previous work within PULSERS and well beyond the work in major UWB standardisation efforts, as for example the IEEE working groups 802.15.3a and 802.15.4a. The project will take into account new regulatory constraints imposed by Europe’s upcoming UWB deployment rules being different from FCC rules (influenced by previous PULSERS activities in this field).

PULSERS R&D work on MAC and higher OSI layers for key UWB-RT applications scenarios is given a strong focus in Phase II. Work on these aspects across the layers will have a strong emphasis on system component integration, prototyping, and laboratory experimentation, on the basis of an industry driven commitment to complete system implementation and sophisticated system verification. The emphasis will be on system test beds that build on LDR-LT and VHDR base technologies. At the end of PULSERS Phase II comprehensive system verification platforms will be integrated, covering all OSI layers. A selection of key application scenarios will be verified in realistic environments through these platforms. The PHY will be based on UWB technology, while the applications will support enhanced connectivity, convenience, and increased efficiency for the user. The system demonstrators will allow exploration of selected LDR-LT applications, as well as some aspects of VHDR providing wireless digital visual interface (DVI). Application areas of particular interest include sensor networks for industrial application, control, and building automation, localisation and tracking solutions, multimedia applications for body area networks, and private home applications such as fast download of multimedia content into fixed, portable and mobile appliances (VHDR data transfer). In parallel to the main realisation tasks, PULSERS Phase II members continue to pursue advanced research topics in the area of distributed and colocated multiple antenna systems (MAS). Further a significant effort is still necessary to contribute in the crucially important activities on spectrum regulation and PHY/MAC standardisation, both at the European and world-wide level. More information can be found at http://www.pulsers.eu

Publications

• Jérôme Vernez, Andreas Hutter and Stephan Robert, « Development, implementation and verification of a UWB Wireless BAN-based platform with GUI », IST Mobile and Wireless Communications Summit, Stockholm, Sweden, June 10-12, 2008.
• J. Vernez, S. Robert, A. Pollini and A. Hutter, « IEEE 802.15.4 MAC Layer Adaptation for UWB », IST Mobile and Wireless Communications Summit, 27-30 June 2004, Lyon, France.
• J. Vernez, S. Robert, A. Pollini and A. Hutter, « Adaptation of the IEEE 802.15.4 Mac Layer to an Ultra Wide Band Radiofrequency Physical Layer », IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications (PIMRC’04), Barcelona, Spain, 5-8, September 2004.

Collaboration: EU Project