Dr. Srinivasa Vemuru, Ohio Northern University professor of electrical and computer engineering, was awarded a National Science Foundation Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum (EARS)** grant to conduct a collaborative research project with the University of Akron, the University of Toledo and Norfolk State University.

Titled “Enhancing Spectral Access via Directional Spectrum Sensing Employing 3-D Cone Filterbanks: Interdisciplinary Algorithms and Prototypes,” the grant totals $49,964.

Vemuru said he and six ONU students would develop laboratories for spectrum-aware sensing applications for cognitive radio and participate in research activities with the collaborating universities. The objective of the project is to explore a new class of algorithms and architectures for important applications aimed at significantly increasing broadband system capacity up to tenfold from present-day levels.

“Over the past 15 years, wireless systems contributed to major productivity improvement in almost all aspects of our economy. The use of wireless technologies is anticipated to increase dramatically over the next few years, and its domestic economic impact is anticipated to approach $1 trillion annually,” Vemuru said. “However, the lack of additional frequency spectrum to support these wireless applications is a severe constraint to this growth as put forth by President Obama’s National Broadband Plan. The proposed research work aims to address this problem by developing new directional-spectrum-sensing algorithms and architectures.”

Vemuru added that the project seeks to advance spectrum-aware education at graduate and undergraduate levels to develop next-generation radio and networking engineers.