The Georgia Electronic Design Center (GEDC) at Georgia Tech supports world-class research, active and solution-oriented industry collaboration, intellectual property generation and revenue-generating commercialization efforts. GEDC's research is broadly focused on fostering technology at the intersection of today's communications applications: wireless/RF, wired/copper and fiber channels. GEDC attracts funding support from federal laboratories and industry.
The Center collaborates with more than 45 member companies and federal agency partners, conducting approximately $12 M in research each year. The activities of GEDC provide the State of Georgia with the opportunity to grow and expand its technology leadership in the design of broadband (high-speed) communications systems, devices and integrated circuits. The Center is specifically focused on enabling the mobile internet with innovative research on mixed-signal systems that are at the boundary between telecommunications, microelectronics, analog/RF and sensing technologies. These efforts produce partnerships with industry that attract new jobs to the state and support smaller, start-up companies that create new jobs for Georgians. GEDC's broad research mission includes four Focus Areas:
Multi-Gigabit Wireless Networks
Researchers at GEDC recently established a new world record for the highest data rate transmitted wirelessly at 60 GHz, enhancing their previous record established in May 2006. GEDC researchers achieved a peak data transfer rate of 15 Gigabit/s at a distance of 1 meter, 10 Gigabit/s at a distance of 2 meters and 5 Gigabit/s at a distance of 5 meters. Research efforts in the Multi-Gigabit Wireless Focus Area have centered on development of CMOS fully integrated 60 GHz multi-gigabit radio chips, co-designed with an innovative low-cost organic FR4-based 3D integrated module technology. Special emphasis has been put on implementation of the SM (SISO-MIMO) radio concept, enabling ultra-high data throughput, as well as back compatibility with WLAN 802.11 systems.
Agile Optics
The Agile Optics Focus Area addresses the need for ever-increasing bandwidth. Research activities in the Agile Optics Focus Area span key aspects of access, metro and long-haul networks. To access space GEDC researchers are developing low-cost CMOS IC-based solutions that enable high-speed fiber-optic connectivity to the home user. Our technology enables use of low-cost fiber-optic components for error-free voice, data and TV transmission as well as use of legacy fibers. GEDC's research in high-speed optical networks includes research in advanced modulations schemes and their interaction with innovative electronic compensation technologies. GEDC is exploring the application of novel receiver techniques for extended-reach communication links. Testbed activities include research into the suitability of tunable lasers at and beyond a 40 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) transmission speed.
Cognitive Radio
As the Cognitive Radio (CR) concept is incorporated into emerging wireless standards, a reconfigurable testbed system is essential in validating proposed signal processing techniques and their hardware implementations. To support thorough testing of its own innovative CR designs, GEDC researchers have developed a multi-standard, fully S/W driven testbed system. The GEDC CR tested system is an instrument-based system controlled by an intuitive MATLAB user interface. It is also used to evaluate subsystem designs such as spectrum sensing. In addition to demonstrating the CR system concept and spectrum sensing, the testbed can be used to evaluate algorithm performance in the presence of many types of interference. The GEDC CR Focus Area team is currently involved in helping to establish IEEE 802.22 and ECMA standards.
RFID/Sensor Networks
The RFID testbed will be able to characterize a multi-standard (EPC, ISO)/multi-frequency (HF, VHF, UHF, RF) operation in a variety of indoor/outdoor environments. GEDC engineers are focusing on maximizing the performance of RFID tags by using optimized matching networks. These networks include radiation pattern control; directivity/gain enhancement; printable thin-film batteries; conductive inkjet printing; advanced printable sensors for temperature, pressure, humidity and biological applications; single and dual polarized antennas in active (i.e. sensor or integrated thin film battery RFID) and passive module integration; as well as IC+antenna co-design for maximum efficiency RFID systems. Optimized modulation schemes will be implemented, and tri-dimensional location and tracking of objects to the item level will be undertaken.