December 4, 2024
Have you ever wondered why your WiFi is so slow at home, even when the signal strength is strong? Or have you ever wondered why you lose cellular connection even when you’re near a cell tower? Longfei Shangguan, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science, addressed these questions with his research collaborator Kyle Jamieson, a professor at Princeton University, in their project “Enhancing Managed Spectrum Sharing with FR3-Cognizant Digital Twins,” which received a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant on Oct. 1.
In their research, Shangguan and Jamieson aim to optimize wireless connections with the development of a wireless digital twin. To do this, they will work to identify how wireless channels influence signals at different frequencies and locations.
“With this wireless digital twin, we envision the spectrum access and management systems can improve spectrum sharing requests for general access users, and tell which other bands or channels are optimal at a given time and location,” said Shangguan. “This allows users to request these channels more effectively.”
Increasing the availability and access to wireless channels and bands will improve wireless connectivity across different frequencies and locations, making wireless networks faster and more reliable.
“The enhanced accuracy and real-time adaptability of our proposed digital twin will lead to more efficient spectrum utilization, reducing interference and optimizing the use of available frequency bands,” explained Shangguan. “This will contribute to greater spectrum efficiency, supporting the growing demand for wireless communication services and facilitating more reliable and higher-quality wireless networks.”
Shangguan emphasizes the importance of collaboration on this research project.
“Jamieson and I have been working closely on wireless research for the past nine years, and we are currently co-hosting a postdoctoral researcher working on this research project,” said Shangguan. “Our research team will develop both individual and group-based research projects related to this proposal, actively recruit female and underrepresented minority students for research, and provide research opportunities for K-12 students through outreach programs at Pitt and Princeton.”
Learn more about the NSF grant here!