Facebook and AT&T join North Carolina’s Wireless Testbed

AT&T, CommScope, Facebook, Keysight, and NI are the first contributing equipment partners supporting the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program, which is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and a consortium of 35 leading wireless companies and associations.

AERPAW, which stands for Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless, was named as the third PAWR testbed in 2019 and is designed with a focus on wireless communications for unmanned aerial systems (UAS) and ground mobility. The AERPAW team is now in the first phase of testbed deployment and expects to make the platform available for early research at the beginning of 2021.

PAWR partners have so far contributed the following to the AERPAW platform:

• AT&T: Data backhaul support
• CommScope: Wireless antennas and fixed node enclosures
• Facebook Connectivity: Terragraph nodes supporting millimeter wave communications
• Keysight: Network test equipment including a channel emulator and RF sensors
• NI: Software defined radios for experimentation and spectrum compliance monitoring

“We appreciate the partnership of so many industry leaders in our Consortium and recognize that the technology they contribute to the PAWR program represents the state of the art in wireless networking,” said Joe Kochan, Principal Investigator and Project Director for the PAWR Project Office. “For the AERPAW testbed, these contributions will make it possible for advanced research into novel drone-based communications and will drive innovation in wireless deployments through 5G and beyond.”

http://www.advancedwireless.org