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Design Methodology and Rapid Prototyping |
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Introduction |
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Design Methodology
and Rapid Prototyping (DMRP) is a core research group at CAST (Centre for Advanced Studies in Telecommunication).
The thrust of this group is in developing embedded systems cutting edge technologies
like Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), Ultra-Wide Band (UWB), Multiple Input
Multiple Output (MIMO) and Software Define Radio (SDR). All these technologies have a common denominator of baseband processing and RF electronics.
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The group is also exploring upcoming
area Electronic System Level design, |
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The DMRP group has an internal project
on the development of an RFID testbed. Moreover, it provides services to other research
groups at CAST, assisting them in their prototyping requirements. A lab is being
established with rapid prototyping boards containing high speed FPGA’s and DSP processors.
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Members |
- Mr
Muhammad Umer Farooq
- Mr Adnan Qureshi
- Mr. Ahmad Rauf Subhani
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Current Research Activities |
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Dual Frequency Band RFID System
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Radio frequency identification (RFID)
is an automatic identification technology with potential application in various
areas of industry and business,
focusing on process of marking items for automatic
identification. An RFID system consists of
two basic components: the RFID reader,
also called interrogator, and one or several RFID tags also called transponders.
DMRP group is currently
developing a platform for Dual Frequency Band (UHF and SHF) RFID system. Our platform
will be EPC Global and IT standard compatible. Flexibility will be introduced in the design by using FPGAs to implement the functionality partitioned
to hardware. This will enable
the RFID designer to test critical parameters of RFID in early phase of projects
e.g. reader architecture (Anti-collision techniques, modulation and data encoding
techniques), baseband processing using rapid prototyping boards (FPGA and DSP processor),
and tag testing (backscattering, tag range) etc. |
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We are working on the anti-collision
protocols (pAloha, sAloha, npCSM and Slotted ISMA) and the air interface as specified
by the EPCglobal standard. We are also working on development and testing of the
RFID system on prototyping boards. |
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Dual band RFID system Research Work
is divided into several milestones and will be completed in Two years. In initial
phase, Matlab implementation of Anti-collision protocols (pAloha, sAloha, npCSM
and Slotted ISMA) is completed and its FPGA implementation is in progress. |
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Rapid Prototyping Tools |
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We are interested in tools that assist
in rapid prototyping of systems, especially in context of communications systems.
We are currently exploring Matlab and Simulink related tools like Real-time Workshop,
Stateflow Coder, HDL Coder, System Generator, AccelDSP, Link for ModelSim etc.,
that would assist us in our R&D efforts and provide services to the other research
groups at CAST.
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Potential Projects in the DM&RP Group |
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In general, we would be interested
in projects that roughly fall into the categories mentioned in the ‘Current Research
Areas’ section. However, we have compiled here a list of some specific projects
that we would like to carry out under the umbrella of this group. These projects
may be carried out as part of an internship at CAST, or as a BS or MS project. Interested
students/researchers can contact the group lead for further interaction. |
- System-level Model of RFID
System: Using an event-based simulator, model, explore and research the
various reader-tag scenarios.
- Antenna Modeling and Design:
Modeling antennas in the UHF and SHF range for RFID readers and tags. Exploring
Simulink’s RF Blockset and AWR tool in this context.
- RFID Reader Anti-Collission
Protocol: Study and model the anti-collission protocols used in RFID systems.
Then implement them in C for a target microcontroller.
- Mathematical Modeling of
RFID Anti-Collission Scenario: Create and implement a mathematical model
that can be used to explore various RFID reader-tag scenarios. The results will
be used for comparison against prototype models.
- Exploring Real-Time Workshop
for RFID Prototyping: In context of RFID protocol, explore Simulink’s Real-Time
workshop tool to generate C-code for Simulink models.
- Using Stateflow Coder for
RFID Prototyping: Exploring the Stateflow Coder toolbox of Simulink to
firstly model the RFID reader and tag protocols, and then generate C-code for a
specific target.
- Hardware Implementation
of RFID Air Interface: Either manually write Verilog RTL, or using tools
like HDL Coder, implement the various components of the RFID Reader Air Interface
on an FPGA, e.g.:
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o Encoding
o Modulation
o Up-conversion
o Tx Filtering
o Rx Filtering
o Down-conversion
o Receive Synchronization
o Decoding
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