Distributed spectrum sensing in a cognitive networking testbed

In this demonstration, we show how the IBBT w-iLab.t wireless testbed, combined with multiple spectrum sensing engines designed by imec, can be used for experimentally-supported design and evaluation of cognitive networking protocols. Functionalities include the advanced characterization of the behavior of a cognitive solution under test, and characterization of the wireless experimentation environment itself

Heterogeneous spectrum sensing: challenges and methodologies

Distributed sensing is commonly used to obtain accurate spectral information over a large area. More and more heterogeneous devices are being incorporated in distributed sensing with the aim of obtaining more flexible sensing performance at lower cost. Although the concept of combining the strengths of various sensing devices is promising, the question of how to compare and combine the heterogeneous sensing results in a meaningful way is still open. To this end, this paper proposes a set of methodologies that are derived from several spectrum sensing experiments using heterogeneous sensing solutions. Each of the solutions offers different radio frequency front-end flexibility, sensing speed and accuracy and varies in the way the samples are processed and stored. The proposed methodologies cover four fundamental aspects in heterogeneous sensing: (i) storing experiment descriptions and heterogeneous results in a common data format; (ii) coping with different measurement resolutions ( in time or frequency domain); (iii) calibrating devices under strictly controlled conditions and (iv) processing techniques to efficiently analyse the obtained results. We believe that this paper provides an important first step towards a standardized and systematic approach of heterogeneous sensing solutions

An investigation of perceptual biases in complex regional pain syndrome

Patients with complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) report cognitive difficulties, affecting the ability to represent, perceive and use their affected limb. Moseley, Gallace & Spence (2009) observed that CRPS patients tend to bias the perception of tactile stimulation away from the pathological limb. Interestingly, this bias was reversed when CRPS patients were asked to cross their arms, implying that this bias is embedded in a complex representation of the body that takes into account the position of body-parts. Other studies have failed to replicate this finding (Filbrich et al., 2017) or have even found a bias in the opposite direction (Sumitani et al., 2007). Moreover, perceptual biases in CRPS patients have not often been compared to these of other chronic pain patients. Chronic pain patients are often characterized by an excessive focus of attention for bodily sensations. We might therefore expect that non-CRPS pain patients would show a bias towards instead of away from their affected limb. The aim of this study was to replicate the study of Moseley, Gallace & Spence (2009) and to extend it by comparing perceptual biases in a CRPS group with two non-CRPS pain control groups (i.e., chronic unilateral wrist and shoulder pain patients). In a temporal order judgment (TOJ) task, participants reported which of two tactile stimuli, one applied to either hand at various intervals, was perceived as occurring first. TOJs were made, either with the arms in a normal (uncrossed) position, or with the arms crossed over the body midline. We found no consistent perceptual biases in either of the patient groups and in either of the conditions (crossed/uncrossed). Individual differences were large and might, at least partly, be explained by other variables, such as pain duration and temperature differences between the pathological and non-pathological hand. Additional studies need to take these variables into account by, for example, comparing biases in CRPS (and non-CRPS) patients in an acute versus a chronic pain state

Architectures for Cognitive Radio Testbeds and Demonstrators – An Overview

Wireless communication standards are developed at an ever-increasing rate of pace, and significant amounts of effort is put into research for new communication methods and concepts. On the physical layer, such topics include MIMO, cooperative communication, and error control coding, whereas research on the medium access layer includes link control, network topology, and cognitive radio. At the same time, implementations are moving from traditional fixed hardware architectures towards software, allowing more efficient development. Today, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and regular desktop computers are fast enough to handle complete baseband processing chains, and there are several platforms, both open-source and commercial, providing such solutions. The aims of this paper is to give an overview of five of the available platforms and their characteristics, and compare the features and performance measures of the different systems

A comprehensive and time efficient characterisation of redox flow batteries through Design of Experiments

As the need for a sustainable economy rightly drives the share of renewable energy, electric grids and supporting infrastructure must flexibly adapt. As valuable building blocks in integrated systems, battery energy storage systems (BESSs) can provide the required flexibility for energy and power applications. Redox flow batteries (RFBs) are emerging as promising alternatives to lithium-ion batteries to meet this growing demand. As end-users, RFB operators must characterise the batteries to learn more about the battery's behaviour and performance and better integrate such RFB technology into energy systems. Characterisation experiments yield this information, which is essential to successfully operate and integrate redox flow battery systems. However, conducting classical characterisation protocols can take more than two weeks for large RFB modules (capacities >30 kWh), which is too long for an efficient RFB roll-out. Better characterisation methods are required to efficiently scale up, integrate and operate RFBs in an appropriate manner. Ideally, characterisation experiments would yield a more comprehensive understanding about the battery performance and behaviour in a shorter amount of time. In order to achieve this, statistical design of experiments (DoE) is explored as an RFB characterisation tool. DoE is a statistical method that makes optimal use of the available time and resources and increases the efficiency of experiments in a statistically sound manner. Designed experiments result in empirical models for the studied system, which can predict system outputs for a vast amount of operating points. This will enable optimal operation of the battery in terms of remaining capacity management and overall electrical efficiency. Through a number of such designed experiments, dominant RFB system variables could be identified, which allow reliable modelling of the RFB performance for different charge-discharge cycles. This facilitated the design of an optimised characterisation experiment. A 50% reduction of the required RFB characterisation time is achieved and the optimal experiment yields comprehensive information about the battery performance and behaviour. As such, a shorter and better RFB characterisation procedure is realised through DoE

A Scalable Baseband Platform for Energy-Efficient Reactive Software-Defined-Radio

International audienc

A New Digital Front-End for Flexible Reception in Software Defined Radio

Future mobile terminals are expected to support an ever increasing number of Radio Access Technologies (RAT) concurrently. This imposes a challenge to terminal designers already today. Software Defined Radio (SDR) solutions are a compelling alternative to address this issue in the digital baseband, given its high flexibility and low Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) cost. However, the challenge still remains in the Digital Front-End (DFE), where many operations are too complex or energy hungry to be implemented as software instructions. Thus, new architectures are needed to feed the SDR digital baseband while keeping complexity and energy consumption at bay. In this article the architecture of a Digital Front-End Receiver (DFE-Rx) for the next-generation mobile terminals is presented. The flexibility needed for multi-standard support is demonstrated by detecting, synchronizing and reporting carrier-frequency offset, of multiple concurrent radio standards. Moreover, the proposed architecture has been fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS low power high-VT cell technology in a die size of 5 mm2. The core module of the DFE-Rx, the synchronization engine, has been measured at 1.2 V and reports an average power consumption of 1.9 mW during Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) reception and 1.6 mW during configuration, while running at 10 MHz

Next Generation Digital Front-End for Multi-Standard Concurrent Reception

This article presents an architecture of a Digital Front-End Receiver (DFE-Rx) for the next-generation mobile terminals. A main focus is placed in flexibility, scalability and concurrency. The architecture is capable of detecting, synchronizing and reporting carrier-frequency offset, of multiple concurrent radio standards. The proposed receiver is fabricated in a 65nm CMOS low power high-VT cell technology in a die size of 5mm2. The synchronization engine has been measured at 1.2V and reports an average power consumption of 1.9mW during IEEE 802.11 reception and 1.6mW during configuration, while running at 10MHz

A new digital front-end for flexible reception in software defined radio

© 2015 Elsevier B.V. Future mobile terminals are expected to support an ever increasing number of Radio Access Technologies (RAT) concurrently. This imposes a challenge to terminal designers already today. Software Defined Radio (SDR) solutions are a compelling alternative to address this issue in the digital baseband, given its high flexibility and low Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) cost. However, the challenge still remains in the Digital Front-End (DFE), where many operations are too complex or energy hungry to be implemented as software instructions. Thus, new architectures are needed to feed the SDR digital baseband while keeping complexity and energy consumption at bay. In this article the architecture of a Digital Front-End Receiver (DFE-Rx) for the next-generation mobile terminals is presented. The flexibility needed for multi-standard support is demonstrated by detecting, synchronizing and reporting carrier-frequency offset, of multiple concurrent radio standards. Moreover, the proposed architecture has been fabricated in a 65 nm CMOS low power high-VT cell technology in a die size of 5 mm2. The core module of the DFE-Rx, the synchronization engine, has been measured at 1.2 V and reports an average power consumption of 1.9 mW during Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) reception and 1.6 mW during configuration, while running at 10 MHz.status: publishe