A new research team at the University of Alberta is looking at ways to prevent potential bottlenecks in fast-expanding wireless networks.
The Alberta Informatics Centre of Research Excellence (iCORE) squad will be led by digital communications systems expert Christian Schlegel, recently recruited to the U of A’s electrical and computer engineering department from the University of Utah.
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| Photo courtesy iCORE |
| iCORE team leader Christian Schlegel was recruited to U of A. |
Schlegel’s group of more than a dozen affiliated researchers and graduate students will examine how both wired and wireless networks will be able to handle the increased demand posed by e-mail, web pages, cellphones and personal digital assistants.
Backed by a $3.5 million High Capacity Digital Communications research program, with $1.75 million invested by iCORE over five years, the team will also look at practical issues, such as where to place antennas and where to locate the computing tasks that are involved in talking on a cellphone.
“It is important for Alberta to have this kind of expertise right here,” noted Victor Doerksen, provincial minister of Innovation and Science.
“We are well on our way to being a recognized location for leading wireless research, due in no small part to the efforts of iCORE,” he said in a statement.
U of A president Rod Fraser said the combined team of Schlegel and iCORE chair Norman Beaulieu, who heads the U of A’s wireless communication lab, makes Alberta one of the pre-eminent locations for wireless research and graduate study.
