Objective
The project aims at studying and evaluating the performance of a novel generalised air interface capable of self-reconfiguring in order to satisfy global network QoS (Quality of Service) requirements, based on channel and traffic knowledge.
It considers Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) technologies as an option and develops a general framework that includes as specific cases standardised access technologies like DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence Code Division Multiple Access), MC-CDMA (Multi-Carrier Code Division Multiple Access) and OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) to develop a physical layer, completely reconfigurable to match the global instantaneous, but imperfect, channel state, mobility, traffic information and terminal capabilities. The project is organised into System Requirements, Research, Technological Development and Dissemination and Assessment activities and its expected duration is 36 months.
The System Requirement objectives include the specification of global QoS requirements of the services to be supported and the definition of the strategy for channel state information estimation and prediction. The Research objectives entail optimisation of the air-interface in single-user, multi-user and multi-cellular environments. The Technological Development activities involve the development of appropriate transmission and reception architectures and will be evaluated by means of link and system level simulations. An Air-Interface emulator will be developed showing the impact of the optimized physical layer on the end-to-end QoS. These activities will also identify a roadmap for utilisation of the SURFACE concept.
The Dissemination and Internal Assessment activities will propagate project results in conferences, workshops and by a constant updating of the project web page. Finally, these activities incorporate internal verification instruments in order to guarantee project progress towards envisioned objectives.