Research Groups

Mobile Communications incorporates both terrestrial and satellite, with integration systems being a theme of the work. The research covers: Networking (mobile IP, mobility management, reconfigurability, ad-hoc, handover between networks, software radio/middleware, QoS, etc.); Air Interface (multiple access, OFDM/MC.CDMA, interference cancellation, MIMO/MUD, adaptive modulation and coding); Radio Environment (propagation measurements and modelling in cellular, in building and satellite, antennas for terminals and base stations, cell planning); and Services (context transfer, service discovery, ambient networks, security, location dependence). The Group is a core member of the UK Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence (MVCE) and participates in eight EU FP6 research projects. Strategic links exist with Ericsson, Nokia, Alcatel, Motorola and Siemens. An iPv6 Wireless Test Bed is operated within the Centre to allow networking and service delivery research in real-time.

Packet-based IP networking is the major driver behind the activities of the Networks Research Group, which include terrestrial IP networking, satellite IP networking, ad hoc and sensor networks, and network & service management. In this context, more specific research areas include: emerging quality of service frameworks in IP, voice over IP, IP multicast over both terrestrial and satellite networks, network dimensioning, traffic engineering, dynamic resource management, constraint-based routing, mobile ad-hoc networks, pervasive networking, network security, policy-based management, autonomic networking, emerging technologies for network and service management, programmable networks, and service engineering in 3G and beyond. The Group is involved in a number of EU, EPSRC and industrial projects, addressing related areas. The group has a strong presence in both UK and European research through EPSRC and IST projects respectively, while it also holds key industrial collaborations with Vodafone, Cisco, Thales and other companies. The group operates a quality of service oriented DiffServ/MPLS testbed, a satellite network testbed and a wireless ad hoc testbed, which are all used for system measurements and evaluation in addition to analytical studies and simulations.