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Virtualizing testbed resources to enable remote experimentation in online telecommunications education
EDUCON 2015, Tallinn, Estonia
Johann M. Marquez-Barja*, Nicholas Kaminski, Francisco Paisana, Christos Tranoris and Luiz A. DaSilva *[email protected] 19/03/2015
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 2
Trinity College Dublin – The University of Dublin
– The University of Dublin, Trinity College was founded in 1592
– 2013 QS ranking: – 1st in Ireland – 61st worldwide – Top 1% School of Engineering worldwide
– Only Irish university to rank in the top 100 world universities and amongst the top 50 European universities by the Times Higher Education Supplement
– Approximately 16,000 students
– Approximately €154m in research income per year
Engineering School
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 3
CTVR/CONNECT
• CONNECT is co-funded by the Irish government, through SFI, and by industry
• 16 Academic leads
• > 120 researchers
• New broadband architectures, new cellular technologies and the Internet of Things will be at the centre of our work
The telecommunications research centre
X
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 4
Remote lab experimentation @ TCD
• Experimentation is a key component of engineering education
• Physical experimentation:
• Expensive, in particular for low-budget institutions
• Deploying and maintaining experimental facilities is costly
• Developing cutting edge telecommunications technologies requires massive effort and budget
• Learners constrained by location and lab opening hours
• Online laboratories
• TCD’s initiative towards empowering online telecommunications engineering education by enabling hands-on remote experimentation
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 5
Online laboratories
• Virtual labs
• software-based laboratories
• simulation tools
• Remote labs
• Experimentation on real lab equipment
• Hybrid labs
• Output data from real measurements/equipment
• Processed by simulation tools
Summarized taxonomy
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 6
CTVR/CONNECT Testbed
• Virtualization management techniques to deliver a unique cloud-based software-defined radio testbed
• Experimentation units
• Virtual computational platform (Iris empowered)
• Dedicated USRP hardware
Cloud-based SDR Wireless testbed
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 7
Virtualizing testbed resources for remote labs for engineering education Enabling the Cloud
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 8
Virtualizing testbed resources for remote labs for engineering education Enabling the Cloud
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 9
Virtualizing testbed resources for remote labs for engineering education
• Iris is a software architecture for building highly reconfigurable radio networks
• Iris is a program and a set of libraries written in C++ which can be used to build software radios.
Iris (Implementing Radio in Software)
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 10
Virtualizing testbed resources for remote labs for engineering education FORGEBox – FORGE Project
• FORGEBox course module
• FORGEBox widgets • FIRE adapter/FORGEBox
services
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 11
Virtualizing testbed resources for remote labs for engineering education
• Learner
• Lab course designer
• Lab course assistant
• Widget provider
• FIRE adapter/service provider
FORGEBox – FORGE Project
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 12
Coexistence of small cells in radar bands Remote lab-based course
• Radar spectrum is currently heavily underutilized due primarily to the need to avoid interfering with sensitive measuring equipment.
• Identifying the features of a radar system and effectively operate within that radar’s exclusion zone without causing harmful interference
Use case @ 5C2 – Master module in TCD
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 13
Coexistence of small cells in radar bands Remote lab-based course Use case @ 5C2 – Master module in TCD
www.ict-forge.eu www.fed4fire.eu www.ict-fire.eu
www.crew-project.eu
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 14
Coexistence of small cells in radar bands Remote lab-based course Screenshots
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 15
Coexistence of small cells in radar bands Remote lab-based course Screenshots
Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin 16
Conclusions
• We have successfully virtualized testbed resources to enable enhanced remote lab-based courses, empowered by hands-on experimentation on top of high performance radio tested
• Virtualization + Iris SDR + FORGEBox = Successful SDR/Cognitive Radio course
• The Coexistence of small cells in radar bands remote lab is currently being taught to reinforce the Cognitive Radio concepts and theory in the 5C2 Wireless networks and communications – Master Module @ TCD
• It has been positively evaluated by TCD students via anonymous online surveys
Future work (TO-DOs)
• Improve/objective assessment for the main actors, in particular learners and lab course assistant
• Implementing learning analytics within the widgets and testbeds
Pending TO-DOs
Thank You
Johann M. Marquez-Barja*, Nicholas Kaminski, Francisco Paisana, Christos Tranoris and Luiz A. DaSilva *[email protected]
