Stevens leads networking services research for the New Jersey Center for Wireless Telecommunications

HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Advanced Telecommunications Institute (ATI) at Stevens Institute of Technology will direct the network services and applications research for the New Jersey Center for Wireless Telecommunications (NJCWT), it was announced today by the university.

The new Center, launched this past January with a $1.1 million grant from the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology for the initial year of operation, unites leading telecommunications researchers at Stevens, Princeton, Rutgers, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). It has four major areas of research: propagation and radio frequency engineering, next-generation transceivers, wireless networking, and network services and application.

"In preparing the proposal for the Commission, my colleagues and I understood how vital this research on wireless communication, and specifically, indoor wireless networking, would be to the future economic growth of New Jersey. Mobile data revenues will approach $1.5 billion dollars this year", said ATI Director Patricia Morreale, who is also an associate professor of Computer Science at Stevens.

"Stevens Institute of Technology has long recognized the importance of telecommunications and networking research to the state and national agenda, and we have an established history of active research collaborations with AT&T, Lucent, Bell Atlantic, and other major telecommunications industries in the state. Stevens offers "one-stop" for research in telecommunications, spanning the range from computer science research in wireless network services and applications, including multimedia, to electrical and computer engineering research in digital signal processing and mobile wireless system modeling. Our leadership in research and our involvement with industry makes this award by the Commission a natural fit," she added.

The New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology anticipates a five-year funding program for the new Center.

"We expect that our work in mobile agents for network management will provide real-time service provisioning, a means for introducing new features in operating networks, without interrupting service. This is vital to permit wireless networks to adapt to the changing needs of users, depending on their location," said Morreale.

In addition to her, Harry Heffes and Michail Tsatsanis of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department will working on this effort. Heffes will be conducting research in the area of overload control for mobile wireless systems. Tsatanis is working on signal processing algorithms which will permit multiple users in close proximity to work without interference from other wireless devices.

Stevens’ Advanced Telecommunications Institute conducts applied research and systems integration in telecommunications and networking. Through research and analysis, ATI seeks to improve the delivery of services and applications over current and future telecommunications networks. ATI designs multimedia systems, develops distributed systems software and performs real-time simulation of network topologies. ATI projects designing and implementing electronic commerce sites, developing innovative multimedia distance learning systems, pioneering wireless research and development of mobile agents for real-time information filtering.

ATI’s advances result in shortened time-to-market for advanced technologies, improved information delivery, reduced distribution costs and superior communication. ATI’s research partners include AT&T Research, Bell Atlantic, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Air Force, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.

The Center will also unite the universities professors with WINLAB, the Wireless Information Networks Laboratory, located at Rutgers, which is headed by David Goodman. A major theme of WINLAB’s participation focuses on Infostations. Present funding for Infostations projects comes from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

The Center will provide an opportunity to expand WINLAB research in promising areas, such as Infostation applications for the commercial sector. Such applications could include so-called "Mom and Pop" Infostations, operated by small business for the purpose of disseminating locally relevant information as well as handling the messaging needs of passerby.

Stevens has also made progress in their "InfoCity" project, which targets the information needs of people in fixed locations. All three universities have conducted research in the past on multi-user detection of wireless signals and radio resource management.

For more information on the New Jersey Center for Wireless Telecommunications, please visit its web site at: www.njcwt.org .

Established in 1870, Stevens offers baccalaureate, master and doctoral degrees in engineering, science, computer science, management and technology management, as well as a baccalaureate in the humanities and liberal arts. The university has a total enrollment of more than 1,600 undergraduates and 2,100 graduate students.

About Stevens Institute of Technology

Founded in 1870 and celebrating 140 Years of Innovation, Stevens Institute of Technology, The Innovation University TM , lives at the intersection of industry, academics and research.  The University's students, faculty and partners leverage their collective real-world experience and culture of innovation, research and entrepreneurship to confront global challenges in engineering, science, systems and technology management.

Based in Hoboken, N.J. and with a location in Washington, D.C., Stevens offers baccalaureate, master’s, certificates and doctoral degrees in engineering, the sciences and management, in addition to baccalaureate degrees in business and liberal arts.  Stevens has been recognized by both the US Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security as a National Center of Excellence in the areas of systems engineering and port security research. The University has a total enrollment of more than 2,200 undergraduate and 3,700 graduate students with almost 450 faculty. Stevens’ graduate programs have attracted international participation from China, India, Southeast Asia, Europe and Latin America as well as strategic partnerships with industry leaders, governments and other universities around the world.  Additional information may be obtained at www.stevens.edu and www.stevens.edu/press.