The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) has signed an agreement with the Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (IIT Mandi) in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology Jammu (IIT Jammu), for the development of wideband spectrum-sensor application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)-chip for enhancing the spectrum utilisation. This is a step towards developing indigenous state-of-the-art next-generation telecommunications technology. The agreement has been signed under the Telecom Technology Development Fund (TTDF) scheme of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
The project aims to develop a reliable and implementation-friendly wideband spectrum sensing (WSS) algorithm to improve spectrum efficiency by leveraging spectrum holes to deliver broadband services in rural India. Spectrum sensing enables cognitive radio users to adapt to the environment by detecting spectrum holes without causing interference to the primary network.
This project will focus on the design of communication algorithms which are hardware friendly for sensing the wideband spectrum (beyond 2 GHz of bandwidth) for detecting and utilising the under-utilised bands (or white spaces), thus, enhancing the spectrum utilisation efficiency of any communication system.
In addition, efficient hardware architectures of such spectrum sensors will be developed in this project that achieves short sensing time, high data-throughput and enhanced hardware efficiency. The initiative will provide a hardware solution capable of scanning over 2 GHz of spectrum with minimal sensing time, thereby boosting the throughput of cognitive radio networks. Additionally, it will demonstrate a wideband cognitive radio module targeting the 6 GHz satellite band (5.925–7.125 GHz) for spectrum sensing and communication. These designs will be emulated in the field-programmable gate-array (FPGA) environment initially and subsequently an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) semiconductor-chip will be taped out that will lead to achieving better spectrum efficiency. The project will also lead to creation of intellectual properties (IPs) for the wideband spectrum sensing technology which is the key component for the dynamic spectrum access.
Meanwhile, Dr Raj Kumar Upadhyay, chief executive officer (CEO), C-DOT, underscored the key role of indigenously designed and developed spectrum sensing technologies in meeting the specific requirements of India, reaffirming the commitment towards Atmanirbhar Bharat.
Further, at the event, Dr Rahul Shrestha, principal investigator, IIT Mandi and Dr Rohit B Chaurasiya, co-investigator, IIT Jammu, affirmed their dedication to advancing the technology of dynamic spectrum access via the development of novel algorithms as well as hardware modules for wideband spectrum sensing which are in line with the objectives of Make-In-India and India-Semiconductor Missions of Government of India. They expressed their gratitude to DOT and C-DOT for the opportunity to collaborate on this research, emphasising that it bolsters efforts to enhance cutting-edge research capabilities and infrastructure in the telecom sector.
