PAWR: Experiences from a Public Private Partnership Model to Accelerate Technical Innovation

Abstract:

The US National Science Foundation is conducting a significant program to advance technologies for wireless networks to overcome the challenge in meeting requirements for existing and new wireless connectivity applications. Many of them are important to current and future Internet of Things (IoT) solutions and innovations. The Program is called “Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR)”. The program consists of three existing, and one to be announced, investigations, each developing a unique platform and testbed that focuses on specific problems and applications – ranging from a connected campus community, to a dense urban setting, to supporting the deployment and integration of UAVs into US airspace. It also involves unique resources and facilities such as, Colosseum – the world’s most powerful wireless network emulator, and the OpenAirX (OAX) Labs – an end-end open source 5G software laboratory.

Reflecting the importance of the PAWR platforms to the development of wireless technology, NSF and 35 private-sector companies and associations in the US wireless industry have cumulatively provided more than $100 million in cash and in-kind support to the design, development, deployment, and operations of the PAWR platforms.

During the closing panel we will be joined by representatives from three of the Industry partners and the program office. The panel will discuss the objectives of the program, the results to date, and the rationale for participation. [ https://advancedwireless.org/ ].

Speakers:

Dr. Adam T. Drobot is a technologist with over forty years of experience in industry, the public sector, and in research. Today his activities include strategic consulting, start-ups, and participation in industry associations and government advisory bodies. He is the Chairman of the Board of OpenTechWorks, Inc. a company specializing in open source software. Previously he was the Managing Director and CTO of 2M Companies in Dallas, TX, from 2010-2012, and President of the Applied Research and Government Business Units at Telcordia Technologies and the company’s CTO from 2002 to 2010. Prior to that, Adam managed the Advanced Technology Group at Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC). He also served as the Senior Vice President for Science and Technology as part of his 27 years of service at SAIC from 1975 to 2002. He has published more than 100 journal articles, and is a frequent contributor to industry literature. He currently holds 26 patents. Adam is a member of Several Corporate Boards, and the FCC Technology Advisory Council. He is on the Board of the Telecommunications Industry Association where he has Chaired the TIA Technology Committee. He is the 2007 recipient of IEEE’s Managerial Excellence Award. For the IEEE he has Chaired IEEE Employee Benefits and Compensation Committee, the IEEE Awards Recognition Council, served as a member of the IEEE Awards Board. During 2017 and 2018 he chaired the IEEE IoT Activities Board that oversees the multi-society IEEE IoT Initiative. He holds a BS in Engineering Physics from Cornell University and a PhD. in Plasma Physics from the University of Texas.

John Kaewell joined InterDigital Communications Corporation in 1986. He has developed RF transceivers, baseband ASICs and real-time software for multiple generations of wireless communication standards from 1G to 5G. Currently, John leads InterDigital’s exploration of applying quantum computing to solve computationally difficult air interface optimization problems. Mr. Kaewell initiated InterDigital’s work in the application of machine learning for processing of Radio signals as well as the development of Natural Language Processing models and training datasets to analyze technical documents including wireless standards. John has represented InterDigital at US-Ignite/PAWR Meetings, the EvoNexus incubator, the INCITS Quantum Computing Technical Committee, ETSI ISGs, NSF and IEEE workshops. Mr. Kaewell has been granted 56 US patents and has 49 US patents pending. John earned the BSEE and MSEE degrees from Drexel University and he has been inducted into the Drexel College of Engineering Circle of Distinction.

Paul Challoner, VP Network Product Solutions for Ericsson North America, based in Plano, Texas is responsible for radio solutions including 4G, 5G & IOT. Prior to his current role, Challoner worked as Head of Product Line Wi-Fi and Head of Ericsson’s CDMA Product Line. Challoner joined Ericsson in 2010 from Nortel where he held executive roles leading the GSM product line, Intelligent Networks and Broadband Wireless businesses. He has global experience working in the US, Canada, France, India and the UK. With 20 years in the telecom industry he possesses extensive industry experience and has innovated bringing numerous radio products to market specializing in the field of wireless communication. He is a member of the CBRS Alliance and Wireless Innovation Forum board of directors. Challoner holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from Brunel University, London, UK.

Ashutosh Dutta is currently Senior Scientist and 5G Chief Strategist at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Labs (JHU/APL), USA. He also serves as Chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering for Engineering Professional Program at JHU. His career, spanning more than 30 years, includes Director of Technology Security and Lead Member of Technical Staff at AT&T, CTO of Wireless at a Cybersecurity company NIKSUN, Inc., Senior Scientist in Telcordia Research, Director of Central Research Facility at Columbia University, adjunct faculty at NJIT, and Computer Engineer with TATA Motors. Ashutosh is author of more than 100 technical papers and 31 issued patents. Ashutosh is co-author of the book, titled, “Mobility Protocols and Handover Optimization: Design, Evaluation and Application” published by IEEE and John & Wiley. As a Technical Leader in 5G and security, Ashutosh has been serving as the founding Co-Chair for the IEEE Future Networks Initiative that focuses on 5G standardization, education, publications, testbed, and roadmap activities. Ashutosh is IEEE Communications Society’s Distinguished Lecturer for 2017-2020 and as an ACM Distinguished Speaker (2020-2022). Ashutosh served as the Director of Industry Outreach for IEEE Communications Society from 2014-2019. He was recipient of the prestigious 2009 IEEE MGA Leadership award and 2010 IEEE-USA professional leadership award. Ashutosh currently serves as Member-At-Large for IEEE Communications Society for 2020-2022. Ashutosh is a Distinguished Alumnus and obtained BS in Electrical Engineering from NIT Rourkela; MS in Computer Science from NJIT; and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York under the supervision of Prof. Henning Schulzrinne. Ashutosh is a Fellow of IEEE and senior member of ACM.

Dr. Thyagarajan Nandagopal serves in the Directorate of Computer & Information Science and Engineering (CISE) of the National Science Foundation. He is the Deputy Division Director (DDD) for the Division of Computing and Communication Foundations (CCF).  Prior to his DDD position he managed wireless networking and mobile computing research within the Networking Technologies and Systems (NeTS) program at NSF.  He has been with the Foundation since February 2012. He has managed networking and mobile computing research within the NeTS program, and contributed to several other crosscutting programs, including Spectrum Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, and Security (SpecEES) and Industry/University Collaborative Research Centers (IUCRC). He has built coalitions in support of new research directions, including leading the establishment of the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program, which has garnered $50 million in cash and in-kind contributions from an industry consortium of about 30 wireless networking companies and technology associations. He serves as co-chair of the Wireless Spectrum Research and Development (WSRD) Interagency Working Group. Before joining NSF, Dr. Nandagopal spent 10 years as a Member of the Technical Staff at Bell Labs/Alcatel-Lucent Bell Labs. His research interests dealt with networking in the cloud, green networking, and software-defined networks. In this role, he helped pioneer the development of the first commercial carrier-grade software-defined network platform (ALU 9980 AINP) between 2006 and 2008, with industry-leading features such as service-chaining and network function virtualization. He also worked extensively on wireless ad hoc/mesh networks and sensors/RFID systems, with specific focus on algorithms for enabling efficient operations of these systems. Dr. Nandagopal holds 38 US patents awarded and several patents pending and has published numerous papers in highly regarded conferences and journals in the field. He has also served as program chair or co-chair for many technical program committees, and Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing. Dr. Nandagopal is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Dr. Nandagopal holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC); M.S. degrees in applied mathematics and computer engineering from UIUC; and a B.Eng. in electronics and communication engineering from Anna University (Chennai, India).