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RESEARCH @ CTIE


Expertise in telecommunications and information engineering is reflected through leading edge research. There is strong collaboration between Monash University and outside organisations, both in Australia and overseas.


RESEARCH EXPERTISE

CONFERENCES

POSTGRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES

FACILITIES


RESEARCH EXPERTISE
   


TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORKS
The CTIE networks group are experts in design and control of high speed networks supporting real time applications. Particular expertise within the group includes:

Internet networks, IP version 6, Mobile IP, ATM Networking, Quality of Service, Network Simulation, Performance testing, Network Management, Satellite Links.

The group has a particular focus on working with real networks and maintains a large testbed network within the CTIE laboratories for this purpose. The network includes IP, ATM, Ethernet, wireless mobile, and satellite links and provides network management and analysis capabilities. Research includes leadership of Project 1.1 - Next Generation Internet for the Australian Telecommunications Cooperative Research Centre, a federal government, industry and University initiative. The networks group provided overseer services to the Australian Automotive Exchange Network and has been involved in many other network design projects. They have undertaken a large range of consultancies, up to and including whole of country internets. Networks group staff are also involved in teaching professional short courses as well as undergraduate and postgraduate subjects including ATM Networks, Internet Networking and Telecommunications Performance Analysis.


DIGITAL SIGNAL PROCESSING
Extensive DSP research encompasses the areas of telecommunications, robotics, and biomedical and power engineering. Research and teaching utilises the state of the art DSP laboratory established by Texas Instruments. Continued sponsorship by the company ensures that the laboratory remains a leading facility.


FIXED AND WIRELESS MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS



BROADBAND NETWORK APPLICATIONS
CTIE's research expertise builds on more than a decade of video coding and video applications work. This includes work in the early 70's developing one of the first video codecs in collaboration with Siemens (Australia), and contributing to MPEG standarisation , through to the development of one of the first video on demand applications for education
'McIVER' (Multi-campus interactive education resource) and a streaming and distributed video application 'Digital Media Library'.

Current research includes line and video coding, space-time processing in fixed and mobile wireless communications, MPEG-4, subject recognition in video sequences, video restoration, encryption for streaming video, digital watermarking for still images and video, video processing for unmanned air vehicles (UAV), and audio and video on demand. A audio on demand service developed for lecture recall by students of the University can be sampled on the Monash library webpages.


OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS AND APPLIED PHOTONICS
Research to push the boundaries of communication capacity includes areas of ultra-broadband (up to and possibly higher than 10 Tera-bps) communication transmission and networks including lightwave generation and modulation techniques, transmission properties of optical guided media, optical amplification and detection techniques, especially novel modelling techniques in frequency domain for nonlinear operating-regime of optical systems and networks, optical transport network modelling for DWDM optically amplified transport networks, optical packet switched transmission and networking design techniques, quantum communications over optical fibre transmission systems and networks, and photonic Signal Processing for All-Optical Communications Systems and Networks.

The Optical Communications Laboratory has recently been updated with the donation of Long-Reach Ultra-High Capacity optical equipment by Siemens


ELECTRONICS AND ELECTROACOUSTICS
Advances in audio electronics are seriously challenging linear amplifiers. Research in this area has caught the attention of a number of companies in the entertainment business for its advances in audio amplifiers, electrostatic loudspeakers and low-frequency enclosures.


ANTENNAS and PROPAGATION
Leading edge research is conducted in areas of national and international significance. Collaboration includes work with the Australian Telecommunications Cooperative Research Centre, with the Country Fire Authority and other community, government and industry groups.

Research areas includes steerable antenna arrays, propogation, microwave, antennas and propagation for Third Generation Mobility, ionospheric structure and propgation, HF Radars, and Over-the-horizon radar.

An anechoic chamber assists with experimentation and RF design.


ELECTROMAGNETIC COMPATIBILITY AND FIELD THEORY
Electromagnetism has a fundamental effect on modern telecommunications systems. Research is conducted in theoretical analysis and the effects in transmission lines and telecommunications systems particularly wireless, and the effect on biological systems.

Successful research can lead to safer and more efficient communications environments, for instance on a bushfire front where the intense heat and radiation will cause electromagnetic interference with the communication systems used by firefighters.

An EMC laboratory is currently being established, and research conducted in collaboration with EMC experts in Europe, particularly Hungary and Sweden.


PARALLEL/DISTRIBUTED SIMULATION OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS
OMNET++ is currently the preferred tool for simulating networks, with the IPv6Suite developed onsite.
IPv6Suite is an open source OMNeT++ model suite for accurate simulation of IPv6 protocols and networks.
For simulation work, there is The "Pizzeria": CTIE's Linux Cluster containing 9 dual cpu Sun pizza boxes. In addition there is access to VPAC and APAC, as well as other clusters.


FACILITIES
The facilities within the Centre are being constantly changed and updated almost on a monthly basis. The list below should be treated as a representative only.

Digital audio/video compression laboratory (Room 113, Building 31)

An excellently equipped laboratory for audio and video coding research, with about $1,000,000 worth of equipment. The equipment includes a RAM-based video sequencer for real-time playback of high resolution sequences prepared frame-by-frame on computers, a D1 digital video player for recording and playing sequences for independent international evaluation, a digital Betacam player (with analog Betacam playback), an S-VHS player, a 1" tape player, an Optibase Fusion MPEG2 digital video compresssor, and the Siemens Eikona video compression system.

Advanced network and video services laboratory (Room 111, Building 31)

One of the leading laboratories in Australia for the development and testing of new network equipment for ATM and Ethernet networks. The laboratory contains a Newbridge 36150 ATM edge switch, a Fore ASX-200BX ATM backbone switch with 155 Mbit/s optical fibre ports, a First Virtual workgroup switch with 25 Mbit/s ATM twisted pair copper ports, Ethernet switches, an HP Broadband Series Test System, and an HP Broadband Services Analyser. The laboratory has connections to wide area ATM networks, and also cable TV networks

TV quality video conferencing is available to sites in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Sydney using the Telstra wide area ATM network. In addition PC based ISDN video conferencing is also available

The laboratory also supports the development of advanced video services. The laboratory has a range of personal computers with different types of network interfaces and different types of video decoding hardware to test different video service models

The laboratory also uses the Opnet network simulation software and a range of Ethernet network analysis and management tools

CTIE has built up an extensive testbed facility for trialing network based applications in a multi-vendor, multi-technology environment. Networking technology includes both ATM and Ethernet switching from vendors including Fore (now Marconi), Cabletron and NEC as well as routing equipment from Cisco and open-source routing based on Linux PCs. This networking equipment is backed up by high-end ATM analysis equipment from Hewlett Packard (now Agilent) and IP analysis equipment including Shomiti Surveyor and Ethereal.

Augmenting the fixed network are a number of wireless networking technologies. There is an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN including equipment from D-Link and 3Com as well as PCs linked by "Bluetooth" wireless links. CTIE also has a satellite Earth station connected to the testbed as well as research time slots on the PanAmSat PAS-8 satellite.

Mobile IPv6 and IPv6 Multicast are supported in the testbed.

Connected to this network are video servers from Microsoft and Silicon Graphics covering everything from very low-rate Internet video to high quality MPEG-2 video streaming. Also connected are a number of video streaming clients and video conferencing systems, as well as a video encoding facility that can create MPEG 1 & 2 files from a number of input source types.

Collectively this constitutes a very flexible facility that allows network applications to be tested in a diverse, heterogeneous environment.

Digital Signal Processing laboratory The DSP laboratory is equipped with 32 computer stations. The DSP hardware/software has been supplied by Texas Instruments. Half of these computer stations have TMS320C6201 (13) fixed point or TMS320C6701 floating point internal EVM boards suitable for image or numerically intensive applications. The other half are equipped with both internal TMS320C54 EVM's and TMS320C5402 external DSK Kits suitable for lower power applications. All are running Code Composer Studio with DSP/Bios capabilities.

In addition there are 16 TMS320C24 external EVM modules for first phase DSP hardware projects. Laboratories are designed for real signal acquisition, processing/analysis and output.

Microwave and telecommunications laboratories The Centre is equipped with extensive microwave facilities. The coaxial equipment includes signal generators and oscillators and various components suitable for frequencies up to 4 GHz as well as X-band waveguide apparatus for frequencies in the 8.5 - 9.5 GHz range. Additional equipment available in the laboratory includes a wide-band sweep signal generator usable up to 12 GHz, a vector voltmeter, a time-domain reflectometer and an admittance meter.

A general purpose antenna range has been installed. It comprises two towers 17 metres high and 85 metres apart. A fixed source is located in one tower and the receiving antenna is mounted on a steerable positioner on the other tower. The associated control equipment and pattern plotter are located in the laboratory. Other antenna equipment includes a field strength measuring set for the 0.1 - 30 MHz range.

The facilities also include an anechoic (electromagnetic) chamber for indoor antenna measurements in the frequency range of 2 GHz to 20 GHz and a 5 x 2.5 x 2.5 cubic metre electromagnetically screened chamber for EMC measurements is currently under constuction.

For communications systems research, a range of signal generators, several noise sources and a spectrum analyser are available, as well as specialized equipment constructed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering. In addition, the undergraduate laboratory is equipped with a range of communication-system modules with which a variety of modulation processes can be investigated.

For telecommunication and computer network simulation, the laboratory has many dedicated computers including the CTIE Pizzeria (linux cluster), Sun Sparc systems and a variety of open source and commercial simulation packages.

Optical Communications and Applied Photonics Laboratory The Centre is equipped with a research and teaching laboratory for optical communications and applied photonics including the following:

 For Optical Systems and Networks Modeling:
Extensive modeling MATLAB-based platform for computer aided design of single channels and dense wavelength division multiplexed optical fibre communications systems and networks, design tools for optical transport networks, basic optical transmission system components.

 Design with external collaboration for linear and nonlinear integrated photonic components, especially electro-optic multi-GHz optical modulators, high-precision packaging platform for integrated photonic component technology.

 Electronic noise suppressed optical receivers and transmitters for quantum optical communications.

optics bench


CONFERENCES

The Centre for Telecommunications and Information Engineering holds external conferences, often in collaboration with its industry partners and interested user groups. The Centre participates and presents at conferences in other areas of Engineering that are increasingly realising the benefits of telecommunications and information technologies in their industry.


POSTGRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES http://www.ecse.monash.edu.au/prosp/postgrad.html


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