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From KC Business Journal -- 08-18-2008
By Staff
The University of Kansas is researching technologies that could help Sprint Nextel Corp. deploy its high-speed access to its wireless network.
In a release Monday, KU said its Information and Telecommunication Technology Center is leading multidisciplinary research with Overland Park-based Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) and Lawrence-based Sunflower Broadband to correlate the performance of millimeter wave (mmw) communication systems with weather that can weaken signals and disrupt transmissions. These communication systems transfer as much as 1 billion bits of data a second and can cut costs and improve performance of broadband wireless services, the release said.
"Sprint Nextel future products will require extensive bandwidth to be differentiated in the emerging world of 4G (Fourth Generation) communication, or the mobile Internet," Tim Euler, Sprint Nextel’s senior technology strategist, said in the release. "This demand will be met with alternative technologies like mmw and network meshing techniques to ensure high reliability of the Sprint Nextel brand."
ITTC researchers have placed weather stations at Sunflower Broadband sites around Lawrence and on the KU campus. The stations collect meteorological data such as rain rate, relative humidity and rain droplet size. On-site cameras take pictures every 30 seconds, providing additional observations. The Sunflower cable network transports the weather data back to ITTC, and researchers from the KU Department of Geography analyze the weather measurements.
KU researchers are testing the range of mmw systems, which traditionally have been used only near one another. Radios on roofs of KU buildings are communicating with a radio on a grain silo at Pendleton Farms, providing a 5.5-mile link.
Initial results from the study found that mmw systems work well over the relatively long distance in clear weather and are accessible most of the time, the release said.
Victor Frost, professor of electrical engineering and computer science at KU and the project’s principal investigator, said in an interview that the project started in April 2007.
"I think this has a lot of potential," Frost said. "We’re going to a world where handsets have multiple-megabit capabilities. When all that data traffic gets to aggregation points--cell towers--you’ll have to have a bigger pipe back to the Internet."
Euler said in an interview that the research will continue at least until the first quarter. He wouldn’t disclose how much money Sprint is spending on the research.
Mmw systems operate in the 71-–76 gigahertz and the 81-86 GHz ranges of the radio frequency spectrum. The Federal Communications Commission in 2003 opened these high frequencies to promote development and deployment of new wireless broadband services and equipment.
From Lawrence Journal-World -- 08-16-2008
By Chad Lawhorn
A new sign on the Kansas Turnpike proclaims three major KU accomplishments that passing motorists may want to know: the 2008 NCAA men’s basketball championship; the 2008 Orange Bowl championship and KU’s status as an international research university.
The research designation is listed first.
KU administrators long have made boosting the university’s status as a major research university a top goal.
So, what do KU researchers have cooking that could affect your daily life? Here’s a look:
Super phones
Researchers at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center are doing the legwork for a world where wireless phones truly will work like powerful computers.
"Your cell phone could become a broadband Internet computer," said Michelle Ward, the public relations manager for the center. "It would work just as well as the broadband computer sitting in your office."
The key is television airwaves. KU researchers -- led by professor Joseph Evans--have been studying whether devices like wireless phones, Palm Pilots and hotspots can take advantage of unused TV spectrum without messing up the TV industry.
Ward said researchers already have done enough work to know the concept is possible. Now ITTC leaders are just refining the parameters.
Cheaper shipping
In today’s world of high fuel prices, greater costs of the products you buy are related to shipping costs.
Researchers at ITTC are hoping to ease the shipping cost pressures by improving the use of radio frequency identification tags by major retailers and manufacturers.
The RFID technology allows manufacturers and retailers to use computers and radio waves to keep track in real time of their inventories. The thinking is that greater efficiency will cut down on transportation costs.
KU researchers--led by Daniel Deavours have come up with new technology to tackle the longtime problem of RFID tags performing poorly when they are near metal containers.
This concludes the ITTC portion of the article.
From NetworkWorld -- 07-11-2008
By John Cox
Next week, the FCC will launch a second test, this time in the field, of prototype wireless devices that run in the "white spaces" of the unlicensed television broadcast band.
And through an FCC filing, the NFL and ESPN invited the commission to test these white space devices (WSDs) in football fields: during 2008-09 games at the Baltimore Ravens’ M&T Bank Stadium and the Washington Redskins’ FedExField in Landover, Maryland.
Several such devices did poorly in the first round of tests a year ago in the FCC labs. The prototypes were created by Microsoft and by a group of other high tech companies, including Dell, Google, HP and Intel. The FCC testers concluded (the full report is online) that the first crop of WSDs didn’t do a good job of detecting TV or wireless micrphone signals, and some of their transmitters did cause interference.
As recently as last March, a Microsoft WSD simply stopped working and was removed from lab tests.
Proponents of white space use, like the Wireless Innovation Alliance, device builders and mobile software companies, say these bands between TV channels, which are no longer needed in digital broadcasting, are a substantial asset that could be exploited by a new generation of wireless devices.
The broadcasters recently reiterated an inflexible opposition to the idea.
Opponents, which include the broadcaster themselves as well as unlicensed wireless microphone makers and users (ranging from churches, concert venues and the NFL), argue that a flood of new devices could interfere with the signals they rely on, especially in the switchover to digital TV signals in early 2009.
The new round of testing next week will assess the latest group of low-power WSD prototypes, which are expected to have more advanced features, such as dynamic power control and the ability to adjust radio power levels based on signal levels in adjacent band. Such features, in theory, will let WSDs detect when a channel is being used by authorized services, and avoid transmitting in it.
The field tests will be in suburban Maryland, and Washington, D.C., covering rural, residential, and urban landscapes, an airport, sports facility, and a theater or other entertainment venue, according to a Dow Jones story.
A recent series of tests by researchers at Kansas University, concluded that the "operation of unlicensed devices in the television band could be accomplished with no significant impact upon DTV receivers in the area."
One of the researchers, Joseph Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at KU, said that WSDs "could bring about better, more interoperable public safety communication, a drop in broadband costs and easier deployment of wireless technology to rural areas," according to the university’s press release.
From KU News -- 07-02-2008
By Brendan Lynch
In most regions of the country, ample swaths of the television spectrum go unused. Such "white space" in the TV band once comprised useful buffer zones between broadcasters that cut the risk of interference, the way medians divide highway lanes. But research at the University of Kansas shows that the digital revolution has lifted the need for unoccupied gaps in the TV spectrum and opened white space for use by a new generation of personal electronic devices.
"Where you are in the range of spectrum is very important," said Joseph Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at KU. "They call the spectrum below one gigahertz ‘beachfront property.’ That is by far the best spectrum for covering a reasonably wide area. The TV bands are down smack in the middle of that. And they could be used for any number of applications."
In May, Evans was named director of the Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, one of KU’s largest research centers. The center explores and develops state-of-the-art information technology, ranging from devices like RFID tags to applications such as bioinformatics. Recently, Evans and colleagues at the center conducted research into unlicensed devices using white space that showed the potential of such technology.
As part of the study, the team built the "KU Unlicensed Device Emulator and Testbed," an apparatus that mimicked the effects of unlicensed devices on digital television receivers.
"We were testing against real TV signals that you’d expect a normal user to see," said Evans. "We could generate digital TV signals, then crank in an amount of power from the prototype of what a white space transmitter would look like -- and we’d crank more power until the digital TV signal would fall over."
The KU team found that operation of unlicensed devices in the television band could be accomplished with no significant impact upon DTV receivers in the area. Moreover, Evans said devices using the TV band could bring about better, more interoperable public safety communication, a drop in broadband costs and easier deployment of wireless technology to rural areas.
The findings are timely: A profusion of new white space will emerge in February as TV stations switch from analog to all-digital broadcasting.
"I’d certainly recommend that policies do not block good technology," said Evans. "I’ve become a believer that white space technology is feasible. I do believe it is fair and prudent that the engineering details be carefully worked through -- we’re still some distance from being able to field those types of devices. But there is great opportunity for white space devices in the next five to 10 years."
This fall, the Federal Communications Commission will choose whether to permit use of devices that scan TV frequencies for white space and use these idle bands for transmission. But the FCC rulemaking is caught in a storm of controversy. Current licensees of the television spectrum stand firmly against giving personal devices access to their wedge of bandwidth.
"The TV channel operators really don’t want their customers inconvenienced or bothered by Johnny-Come-Latelys in the spectrum regions," Evans said. "If you’re a broadcaster and your customers suddenly are reporting that they’re not seeing their signal as well, that could end up in loss of revenue. They do have legitimate concerns to make sure that any new technology isn’t negatively affecting them."
On the other side, technology companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Google and Dell have joined to press the FCC to approve white space devices. Groups that advocate for public access to airwaves also are urging the commission to OK the innovative transmitters.
The research conducted at KU has informed this important public debate. Last year, Evans presented evidence to the FCC citing the center’s work to show that white space devices do not create interference for TV viewers when operated under appropriate rules.
"If technology comes along that can better serve the public, then we should enable those technologies to flourish," said Evans. "We can do that by carefully understating the science and the technology before making those policy decisions. That’s not to say there are important vested interests -- broadcast TV remains an important part of our media landscape. But we need to allow for the possibility of evolution."
From Lawrence Journal-World -- 06-17-2008
By Mark Fagan
Technology behind another radio-frequency identification tag developed at Kansas University is headed to market.
KU’s Agility tag, developed through the university’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, is being licensed for manufacturing through Starport Technologies LLC, based in Kansas City, Mo.
The agreement, announced Monday, is the second that the center has with Starport. A little over two years ago, the center secured a deal for Starport to use so-called "KU-Tag" technology. The KU-Tag technology allows for manufacture of RFID tags designed to function at high levels when used to keep track of metal containers or items that contain liquid, minimizing problems encountered through the use of other RFID tags.
While KU-Tag units are more expensive and more durable, the Agility-enabled tags are designed to be functional in less-demanding conditions.
RFID systems increasingly are used to track inventory by identifying tagged items through radio communication between electronic readers and tags that contain data on microchips.
Starport is using the Agility technology in its new Orion tag, expected to be ready for market by August. The Orion tags "easily" outperform traditional foam tags, recording read ranges of up to 25 feet on metal, said Jeff Nedblake, Starport’s principal and managing partner.
The market for such tags is growing, according to research conducted by IDTechEx Ltd., a consulting firm.
Worldwide spending on such systems is expected to reach $5.3 billion this year, up from projections of $4.96 billion a year ago, the firm said. The market is projected to reach $27 billion in 10 years.
KU officials say they hope to continue working with Starport to advance such technologies.
"Our relationship is a good example of how ITTC works with area industry to improve their product offerings by transferring innovative technology out of the laboratory," said Keith Braman, the center’s director of commercialization
From Kansas City Business Journal -- 06-16-2008
By Staff
Starport Technologies LLC has licensed manufacturing rights for a University of Kansas technology that can be used in applications such as supply chain or asset management.
The new Agility technology, from KU's Information and Telecommunications Technology Center, creates better-performing radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, according to a Monday release. Kansas City-based Starport is a provider of RFID technologies, which automatically read digital data encoded in RFID tags on objects to help track them.
"There is conventional wisdom in the industry that tag performance degrades when the tag is near metal and that's just the way it is," Daniel Deavours, KU principal investigator and ITTC research assistant professor, said in the release. "Conventional wisdom is wrong: You can make tags so they work well in air and on metal."
Information about the price of the licensing agreement was not immediately available.
The new technology offers the performance of high-end tags at the price of foam-attached tags, the release said. Agility tags have a unique antenna design that enables read ranges at least three times farther than other foam tags on metal, plus better performance on other materials.
The Orion Tag, which uses Agility technology, should be available commercially by August, the release said.
"The performance of the Orion Tag using Agility technology is outstanding. We have measured read ranges up to 25 feet on metal," Jeff Nedblake, principal and managing partner of Starport Technologies, said in the release. "While foam tags have been around for some time, the Orion easily outperforms them."
Currently available foam tags, which are thicker than Agility tags, have a read distance of less than 6 feet on metal, the release said. Agility tag read distances are comparable to those of high-end tags, the release said.
From University Relations -- 05-12-2008
By Kevin Boatright
Joseph Evans, a prominent researcher and computer systems designer at the University of Kansas, has been named director of KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, effective Aug. 18.
Evans, the Deane E. Ackers Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, will succeed Victor Frost, who announced last fall that he would step down as director after 11 years in that position. Evans was acting director of ITTC from 1999 to 2000 and served for three years as KU’s director of research information technology.
"This is a very dynamic research field, nationally and internationally," said Evans. "ITTC has a good track record developing innovations that advance knowledge. Some of that research has an economic impact, and enabling that is also very much a part of our mission. I look forward to leading this outstanding team of faculty, staff and students."
Evans came to KU in 1989, following a postdoctoral appointment with AT&T Bell Laboratories. His current research is wide-ranging and includes wireless networks, high-speed communications networks and switching hardware, and the design and evaluation of software. During his career, Evans has received more than 60 federal and industrial research grants and has published extensively.
Evans will report to Steve Warren, vice provost for research and graduate studies.
"KU is fortunate to have a researcher of Joe’s caliber in this important role," said Warren. "He’s a national authority on the subject of research computing, and he has experience moving IT research into the marketplace. He also knows ITTC extremely well, so the center won’t miss a beat during the leadership transition."
Evans served the National Science Foundation from 2003 to 2005 as a program director in its Directorate of Computer and Information Science and Engineering. He oversaw research involving wireless networking, cybersecurity and optical networking, and was responsible for awarding more than $50 million in grants to newly created programs.
Evans was a co-founder of NetGames USA Inc., a network gaming company acquired by Microsoft in 2000. The technology is utilized in Microsoft’s Xbox Live Internet gaming service. He was also president and CEO of Ambient Computing Inc., a developer of software and hardware for smart wireless environments.
Evans’ academic background includes a doctorate from Princeton University and a bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College. During the 1996-97 academic year, he spent a sabbatical at Cambridge University and the Olivetti and Oracle Research Laboratory in England.
From University Relations -- 04-10-2008
By Jill Hummels
A University of Kansas student is among a select group of students nationwide to receive a 2008 Science Mathematics And Research for Transformation (SMART) Defense Fellowship.
Mike Wasikowski, a master’s student in computer science from Omaha, will receive a $25,000 stipend, book allowance, health insurance and full tuition and fees as part of this Department of Defense program.
"Mike is a hardworking and brilliant student," said Xue-Wen Chen, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science who is guiding Wasikowski on his graduate studies and research activities at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center. "I was impressed by his motivation and sincerity toward work. He is dedicated and has great potential in research."
As part of the program, fellowship recipients must fulfill a one-year employment obligation with a Department of Defense agency for each year they receive the fellowship. Wasikowski, who is studying machine learning algorithms and feature selection techniques, will work for TRAC-Monterey, a research center at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif.
"The specific organization that I’m looking at does a lot of research on projects like automatic target recognition -- looking at a large image of, say, a battlefield and trying to pick out areas that are potentially hazardous such as missile silos," he said. "You need to know where you have to look to figure out if there’s something there in the first place. They’re also working on robots that can adapt and learn depending on the environment or what they experience. Those sort of techniques would be very, very beneficial to them."
Getting a SMART fellowship requires, well, some smarts.
The extensive application process, which begins in the fall, requires each candidate to submit detailed academic information, letters of reference and information about his or her research interests. Successful candidates also must endure two rounds of reviews by personnel within the Department of Defense, Wasikowski said.
"It’s definitely a load off my chest, knowing that I got it and that I don’t have to worry about where I’m going to be in the next couple of years, what I’m going to be doing," he said.
Wasikowski earned undergraduate degrees in math, computer science and psychology at Truman State University in Missouri in 2007. He said his career aspirations are still open.
"I plan on spending at least three years there to get my feet grounded and get some good work experience," he said. "If it’s something that I really like, I might stay there."
Wasikowski is the son of Larry and Teresa Wasikowski of Omaha and a graduate of Ralston (Neb.) High School.
First awarded in 2005, the SMART fellowship program is designed to promote the education, recruitment and retention of students in science, math and engineering studies. Wasikowski is the second KU School of Engineering student to receive a SMART fellowship since 2006.
"This scholarship is very competitive-- so it speaks a volume about our program, our research, and our students," Chen said.
From University Relations -- 10-09-2007
By Michelle Ward
Veatros LLC, a University of Kansas start-up company and an alumnus of Larta Institute, was acquired recently by DivX Inc., a digital media company. Veatros technology, developed at KU’s Information and Telecommunication Technology Center, will perform enhanced video and discovery searches to help better manage users’ media collections.
John and Susan Gauch, former faculty members in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, created Veatros in 2002 with assistance from KU. The Gauches then turned to Larta Institute to help them commercialize Veatros. The Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization specializes in transferring technology from government agencies and universities.
In 2005, the company presented its technology at Larta’s Project T2, a technology transfer conference, under a Kaufman Foundation grant. Shortly after, it became the first company selected for Larta’s venture capital affiliate, T2 Venture Capital. The foundation has long supported Larta’s tech transfer programs.
According to Victor Hwang, managing director of T2VC and former president of Larta Institute, the conference focuses on companies at the cutting edge of technology and with tremendous commercial potential. Hwang mentored the company through its recent growth and acquisition by DivX and became the chief strategy officer of Veatros.
Veatros markets the digital video processing technology VidWatch, which the company developed in 1997 at ITTC. The initial application of VidWatch was to prevent foreign cable stations from using more allotted commercial time than they had actually purchased by continuously monitoring television broadcasts.
"It wasn’t until we started working with Victor Hwang and Larta Institute that doors started opening for us," said John Gauch. "It is through their professionalism and contacts that we were able to find a partner to take our technology forward. We benefited from incubating the technology with support from ITTC and were able to focus on development and new applications for several years while the market for our technologies developed. Now we are thrilled to work with DivX on a mature implementation."
"This little spin-out that could shows the potential that is available in research in many parts of the country," said Rohit Shukla, CEO of Larta Institute. "At Larta Institute, we are proud to work closely with companies like Veatros who are at the intersection of research and enterprise."
DivX is a digital media format like MP3 for video. Its technology compresses video to a fraction of its original size, allowing the easy creation, storage and sharing of media. Additionally, DivX-certified products, including DVD players, cameras and mobile phones, are interoperable. More than 100 million DivX-certified devices have been shipped globally from major manufacturers and there have been more than 300 million software downloads.
Earlier this year, Susan Gauch accepted a position as department head and Rodger S. Kline Endowed Chair in Computer Science and Computer Engineering at the University of Arkansas. John Gauch accepted a position as a professor in the same department.
Copyright © 2008 by the University of Kansas