AERPAW: Aerial Experimentation and Research Platform for Advanced Wireless
IEEE IoT Vertical and Topical Summit
Ismail GuvencProfessor, NC State University
Jan. 14, 2021
https://aerpaw.org/
Outline
➔ AERPAW vision and team
➔ Deployment progress update and timeline
➔ Supported equipment/software for fixed/portable nodes
➔ AERPAW experimentation framework and experiment examples
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AERPAW Project Vision and Scope
➔ Funding: NSF’s PAWR program in Sep. 2019 ($9M + $15M in kind
resources from PAWR consortium)
➔ AERPAW Vision: Serve as a unique technological enabler for
advanced wireless research, leveraging unmanned aerial systems
(UAS) with world class expertise and partners
➔ Project Heart: Programmable radios, programmable UAS,
on a programmable network
➔ Managed by the PAWR project office (PPO): US Ignite & Northeastern
➔ Contributions from PAWR Industry Consortium members – NI,
Keysight, CommScope, Facebook, AT&T, Interdigital …
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Municipality /
Government Partners
Senior Personnel
Asokan Ram
WRC (Commercial
4G/5G Network)
Lavanya
Sridharan
NC State (Project
Coordinator)
Jason Proctor
NC State
(installations
and permits)
Ozgur Ozdemir
NC State (SDRs,
Keysight,
Facebook TG)
Mike Barts
WRC (RF, Towers,
Antennas, Front
Ends)
Project Investigators
Harsh Joshi
NC State
(Network Arch.)
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Deployment Progress – LWRFL Tower (1)
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Deployment Progress – LWRFL Tower (2)
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Deployment Progress – Centennial Campus Fixed Nodes
CC1 Mockup (deploying
a purpose-built tower)
CC2, Before
Construction Started
CC2, Construction in
Progress
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AERPAW Timeline
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Fixed Node Equipment
NI Software
Defined Radios
Keysight RF
Sensors
Experimentation Software• USRPs: OpenAirInterface, srsLTE, GNU Radio, Matlab
• Other software by Keysight, Facebook, etc.
Shuttles
Terragraph
Radios
LoRa IoT
Equipment
Fortem
Drone
Detection
Radars
Portable Node Equipment
Vehicles
Helikite
Custom-Built Unmanned
Aerial and Ground Vehicles
(UAVs/UGVs)
Software
Defined
Radios
Sensors
Mobile
Phones
Keysight Propsim
Channel Emulator
(Sandbox)
2x SFP
Fiber
- 48V
DC
2x
Directional
antenna
4G/5G
Base
Stations
Compute:
Dell 5820
with Intel
Xeon
Processor
Compute:
Intel
NUC10
Carried By
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EquipmentFixed Nodes (e.g., at
tower)
Portable Nodes
(e.g., @UAV)
2020 Year-End
Deployment GoalsDeployment Status
SDRsNI USRP X310 and
N310
NI USRP
B205mini
Deploy 3 fixed and 3
portable nodes, integrate to
experimental portal, have
“general availability” by
the end of Spring 2021
3 fixed and portable nodes
close to getting finalized
RF SensorsKeysight N6841A RF
SensorN/A Deploy and initial testing
Deployment in progress: at
least 1 RF sensor @CC2
Channel Emulation
PlatformKeysight Propsim (in Sandbox) Deploy and initial testing
Received early November,
integration in progress
4G LTE and 5G NR
BSs/UEs
NSA LTE/5G-NR at
1.7 GHz and 3.7 GHzMobile phones Deploy and initial testing
Expecting to receive late
January, 2021
IoT Devices LoRa gateway LoRa sensors Deploy and initial testing To deploy soon
UAS Radar Fortem SkyDome N/A Deploy and initial testing Initial testing done
60 GHz 802.11 radios Facebook Terragraph N/A Deploy and initial testingDeploying 6 Facebook TG
at 4 fixed nodes
Phase-1 Development and Deployment Summary
May be available
individually based
on requested
experiments
and resources
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Fixed Nodes (each
having X310+N310)
Year-1 (by Mar. 2021) Year-2 (by Mar. 2022) Year-3 (by Mar. 2023) Total
Centennial Campus 2 (1 rooftop, 1 light pole) 12 (3 rooftops, 9 light poles) 7 (light poles) 21
Lake Wheeler 1 (60-feet tower) 2 (60-feet tower) 3 (tower specs TBD) 6
Dorothea Dix Park N/A N/A 1 (light pole) 1
Town of Cary N/A 1 (tower) 3 (tower) 4
Total 3 15 14 32
Portable Nodes Year-1 Year-2 Year-3 Total
Portable Radios 3 USRP B205mini 10 USRP B205mini 10 USRP B205mini 23 USRP B205mini
Vehicles Year-1 Year-2 Year-3 Total
Vehicle Development 2 UAVs, 1 rover 4 UAVs, 3 rovers 4 UAVs, 2 rovers 10 UAVs, 6 rovers
Other Vehicle Integration Hummer vehicle, CASSI testing Campus shuttles Campus shuttles, helikite
Integrate
Deployment Timeline for Fixed and Portable SDR Nodes
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Status - SDR Profiles and Experiments for General Availability
Profile Experiment (tested with B205mini-i USRP) VM test with B205mini-i (USB interface) Notes
4G -
srsLTE:
UE, eNB,
EPC
-Range
-Throughput (~65 Mbps DL, 35 UL)
-Ping
-EPC-eNB over WiFi
-Commercial 4G LTE phone with APP
-tested for 5 MHz on NUC Computer OK
-10 MHz LTE system, with UE on NUC
-20 MHz LTE system, with UE on NUC
Commercial phone connects, pingtools
APP (Google Play)
https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpa
w-wiki/user-wiki-start/sdr-
experiments/srslte-experiments
4G - OAI:
eNB, EPC
-Range
-Throughput (~70 Mbps DL, 18 UL)
-Ping
-EPC-eNB over WiFi
-Commercial 4G LTE phone with APP
-5, 10, 20 MHz LTE system, with srsLTE-
UE on NUC
EPC and UE in use with OAI eNB for most
experiments
https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpa
w-wiki/user-wiki-start/sdr-experiments/oai-
experiments
5G - OAI:
gNB, NR-
UE
-Throughput (1 Mbps DL)
-Ping
No Troubleshoot issues and fix parameters
Needs Octoclock source
Over the air only, Not stable
GNU
Radio
-Tun-tap flowgraph for mesh networking (ping)
-Wideband channel sounding
-RF monitoring
Yes (may have limited bandwidth for
channel sounding)
https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpa
w-wiki/user-wiki-start/sdr-
experiments/gnuradio-experiments
Matlab
(including
4G/5G
toolboxes)
1. Frequency Offset Calibration
2. QPSK Transmitter and Receiver
3. LTE MIMO
4. FM Receiver
5. IEEE 802.11 WLAN - OFDM Beacon Receiving
6. FRS Full Duplex Transceiver
Yes More being added
Video tutorials and step-by-step
instructions available in AERPAW Wiki:
https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpa
w-wiki/user-wiki-start/sdr-
experiments/matlab-experiments
See: https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpaw-wiki/user-wiki-start/sdr-experiments
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https://terragraph.com/
Terragraph Deployment Status:
• 6 Facebook Terragraph radios are now being
deployed on light poles and a rooftop in year-1
• Use cases: channel sounding and
vehicle/pedestrian/drone sensing https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpaw-wiki/user-
wiki-start/terragraph-experiments/terragraph-use-
cases
Keysight RF Sensors, Facebook Terragraph Radios, and LoRa USB Dongles
Phase-1
Terragraph
Locations
Phase-1
Keysight RF
Sensor and
LoRa Location
(also in Lake
Wheeler tower)
Keysight RF Sensor Deployment Status:
• 5 RF sensors received; are ready for
deployment in CC2 and LWL1
• Use cases: Tracking of UAVs and other
signal sources, RF sensing/monitoring, signal
recognition, spectrum sharing
• https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerpaw-
wiki/user-wiki-start/rf-sensor-experiments
LoRa USB Dongles Deployment Status:
• Two LoRa equipment are ready for
deployment in CC2 and LWL1
• Use cases: PHY/MAC experiments with
common LoRa parameter configurations
• https://sites.google.com/a/ncsu.edu/aerp
aw-wiki/user-wiki-start/lora-experiments
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VehiclesPhase 1 Vehicles:
● UAVs (2)
● Rover (1)
● Cart (1)
● Hummer (1)
Status: all vehicles are
currently tested
Check aerpaw.org for the AERPAW UAV video
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Projects supported so far:
• Fortem Radar testing - will be used for airspace
characterization for beyond line of sight waivers
• UAV detection and tracking using UWB radars
• 3D Modeling of the outdoor spaces for mmWave
network planning (LIDAR)
• UAV signal detection and tracking using RF signals
Unmanned Aircraft Flight Experiments
Status:
• Weekly flight testing, usually Friday mornings
• Have a FAA waiver for night operations other waivers will be
filed once AERPAW UAS development is complete
• 3 pilots on board, will hire more
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FCC Innovation Zone Request and FAA Waivers
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Frequency Band Type of Operation Allocation Fixed Station
Maximum EIRP (dBm) Mobile Station
Maximum EIRP (dBm)
617-634.5 MHz (DL) Fixed Shared 65 20
663-698 MHz (UL) Mobile Shared 65 20
907.5 – 912.5 MHz Fixed & Mobile Shared 65 20
1755-1760 MHz (UL) Mobile Shared 65 20
2155-2160 MHz (DL) Fixed Shared 65 20
2390-2483.5 MHz Fixed & Mobile Shared 65 20
2500-2690 MHz Fixed & Mobile Non-federal 65 20
3550-3700 MHz Fixed & Mobile Shared 65 20
3700-4200 MHz Mobile Non-federal 65 20
5850-5925 MHz Fixed & Mobile Shared 65 20
5925-7125 MHz Fixed & Mobile Non-Federal 65 20
27.5-28.35 GHz Fixed & Mobile Non-federal 65 20
38.6-40.0 GHz Fixed & Mobile Non-federal 65 20
FAA Waivers to be Applied:
• Initially: Part 107 licensed pilots, visual line-of-sight, <400 feet, daytime operation
• Future: FAA waivers for flying over people, autonomous operation, multi-UAV operation, etc.
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Experiment Flow
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Development VMs
(Ground and Aerial
node images) – cloud
Develop
Emulate
Submit
Sandbox
Observe
Retrieve Results
Sandbox VMs
(real radio, real drones
minus props)
– indoor facility
Emulation VMs (emulated
radio, emulated drones,
real code) – cloud
Testbed
(real everything)
Specify nodes, desired mapping,
equip with AERPAW software
tools and drivers, program
Test with real drivers, actual
hardware (tutorial and sanity)
Test with real drivers, realistic
hardware emulation
(AERPAW safety check)
$
$
$
$$$$
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Experiment Examples
Counter UAS:
radar, passive
RF sensing
• RF sensing
• Coverage
optimization of
commercial
4G/5G for UAS
Smart agriculture
/ cities / buildings
4G/5G/Next-G
PHY/MAC/NET
experiments
V2X
networks,
security
Multi-hop networks
and UAS swarms
UAS trajectory
optimization
mmWave
beamforming
and tracking
S2
S1
S3
S4
S5
S6
S7,S8
AERPAW
wireless
node
Lead User Group: [email protected]
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Experiment ExamplesField Experiments with Keysight RF Sensors
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