Test-Bed for 3G Wireless Technologies

THE JACOBS SCHOOL AND UCSD are at the center of an ambitious program to build the nation's most advanced test-bed for thirdgeneration (3G) wireless products and services. On Nov. 29, Dean Robert Conn hosted a meeting for university researchers and key officials from QUALCOMM, as both sides stepped up plans to test the company's 3G wireless technology CDMA2000 1XEV (also known as High Data Rate, or HDR) before its commercial launch in the United States in late January.

The School has already installed HDR equipment on the roof of EBU1, providing access for about 10 kilometers in every direction. UCSD faculty and students have begun testing the technology in an operational environment where they can switch between CDMA2000 and 802.11b high-speed wireless access, which is available in certain pockets on campus.

Says Ramesh Rao, ECE professor and UCSD division director for the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology: "Going forward, we expect to use this 3G infrastructure as a place to test out technologies and devices conceived by faculty, students or our industrial partners."

Greg Hidley, director of Engineering Computing at the Jacobs School, promised a forthcoming "call for new users and new experiments" to enlarge the group experimenting with HDR technology. Two initial projects under consideration: combining HDR modems with 802.11b access points to extend Internet access to busses that rove the campus; and distributing similarly-configured "backpack" implementations to students to test in areas of campus that do not have wireless access.