DAY 1: Monday, December 20, 2010
08:30: Registration
08:50: Welcome and Opening Remarks
09:00-10:45: Antennas For Wireless Communications
Prof. M´hamed Drissi, IETR, France
10:45-11:15: Coffee Break
11:15-13:00: Cross-Layer Design of Smart Antenna Systems
Prof. Nicholas E. Buris, President & CEO, NEBENS, USA
Description:
Smart Antenna Systems use the additional degrees of freedom offered by their multiple antennas to exploit, among other things, multipath in the propagation environment. Therefore, by construction, antenna design of smart antenna systems cannot be assessed by simple performance metrics such as gain, polarization and efficiency alone. At a minimum, performance has to be considered in the context of the nature and degree of the multipath. Capacity, the maximum possible throughput, is an appropriate performance metric when the antennas are properly combined with their propagation environment but nothing more is known about the system. When, additionally, the specific Link and Media Access Control (MAC) layer characteristics of the system are taken into account, the actual throughput of the communication link becomes a more appropriate performance metric. A Cross-Layered design approach of Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) antenna systems is presented in this talk. An electromagnetics exact formulation from baseband-to-baseband of a Smart Antenna System is given. The formulation consists of full wave analyses of the antenna arrays involved on both sides of the link and a plane wave decomposition for the propagation environment. Subsequently, the baseband signals are fed into link simulators, specific for each system of interest, to provide estimates of the Bit Error Rate (BER) and throughput. Calibration and Channel estimation algorithms are described for Time Division Duplex (TDD) systems, such as the IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX) and TDD LTE. The state of the art in designing antennas for terminals and for base stations is outlined. Examples of actual product designs for WiMAX and IEEE 802.11n are also given.
Finally, the talk ends with some recommendations on research topics to further the state of the art.
13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00 - 15:45:
Workshop 1: Microstrip Patch Antenna: From Design To Product
Dr. Otman El Mrabet & , Abdelmalek Essaadi University , Morocco
Dr. Otman Aghzout, Abdelmalek Essaadi University , Morocco
Dr. Hafid Greguer, EMSI, Morocco
Description:
Wireless and mobile communications is one of the fastest growing areas of modern technology. It has an enormous impact on almost every aspect of our daily lives. This rapid development requires the use of antennas that are compact, highly efficient and low-cost. In order to provide cutting-edge solutions, it is important not only to develop systems based on state-of-the-art antenna concept, but fast and highly accurate EM solvers are indispensable tools to simulate the antenna system. Access to prototyping tools and accurate measurement facilities are also desirable. The integration of all these phases helps reduce the number of iterations to obtain high-performance antennas, and thus leading to a shorter development time.
Therefore, in this workshop we will presents an overview of the main challenges encountered during the design of planar microstrip antennas for wireless and mobile communications. Furthermore, an overview on various commercial tools for antenna design will be given. In addition, this workshop will provide, for the first time in Morocco, the opportunity for microstrip patch antenna design, fabrication and measurement using the facilities available at the EMG lab (i.e. LPKF Protomat S100 & Geozondas High Frequency Measurement equipemet).
15:45 - 16:15: Coffee Break
16:15 - 18:00:
Workshop 2: Advanced Applications: Microwave LNA Design for Wireless Applications
Dr. Ahmed EL Oualkadi, Abdelmalek Essaadi University , Morocco
Description:
The growing demand of wireless application products needs highly integrated and low cost RFICs and MMICs for modern transceivers. The Low Noise Amplifier (LNA) is the first and the most critical component in high-frequency receiver front-end circuits. From Friis equation, the LNA noise figure adds directly to the receiver's overall noise figure. Moreover, the noise contributed by the stage immediately succeeding the LNA decreases as the LNA gain increases. Hence, high gain and very low noise are key targets of an LNA designer. Furthermore, the good impedances matching at its input and its output, and, as with any other active circuit, are needed. The good linearity, the rock-solid stability and the lowest power consumption are keys design parameters. Simultaneously meeting all these criteria makes for an iterative and complicated microwave design process that typically requires the designer to utilize multiple software tools beyond the circuit simulator. Therefore, the successful design of microwave integrated circuits is the fruit of a disciplined design approach. The focus of this workshop will be on the analysis and design of LNA (Low Noise Amplifier) for wireless communications. Numerous architectures of LNAs will be investigated. This workshop covers the theory and practical strategies required to achieve first-pass design success. Indeed, an example of a microwave LNA will be presented and studied in details: from the theoretical study until final fabrication while including instruction on simulation, stability analysis, and layout. The LNA design trade-offs will be discussed to optimize the designed LNA for wireless application.
DAY 2: Tuesday, December 21, 2010
08:00-09:30: Wireless Sensor Networks : Topologies and Applications
Prof. Mohamed Essaaidi, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco
Description:
A wireless sensor network (WSN) consists of spatially distributed autonomous sensors to cooperatively monitor physical or environmental conditions, such as temperature, sound, vibration, pressure, motion or pollutants The development of wireless sensor networks was motivated by military applications such as battlefield surveillance and are now used in many industrial and civilian application areas, including industrial process monitoring and control, machine health monitoring, environment and habitat monitoring, healthcare applications, home automation, and traffic control. In addition to one or more sensors, each node in a sensor network is typically equipped with a radio transceiver or other wireless communication device, a small microcontroller, and an energy source, usually a battery. A sensor node might vary in size from that of a shoebox down to the size of a grain of dust. Size and cost constraints on sensor nodes result in corresponding constraints on resources such as energy, memory, computational speed and bandwidth. This talk will give an overview on WSN and will cover different aspects related with them such as WSN topologies, technologies, and applications.
09:30-10:00: Coffee Break
10:00-11:30: Current Trends in Vehicular Ad Hoc Networks (VANETS)
Prof. Mosa Ali Abu-Rgheff, University of Plymouth, UK
Description:
Millions of people around the world killed, get injured or disabled every year in car
accidents and these numbers are increasing rapidly. Implementations of highways
information such as speed limits, road conditions, on traffic flows, congestion, etc
reduce number of fatalities but still more work is required. Vehicular Ad Hoc
Networks (VANET) should, upon implementation, massively reduce the number of
accidents.
The first generation of VANET, cooperative collision warning deploys vehicle to
vehicle communication. However, these applications cannot operate efficiently using
only vehicle to vehicle communications. Current generation of VANET comprise
sensors and On Board Units (OBU) installed in the car as well as Road Side Units
(RSU). VANET is a combination of architectural network and ad hoc network, this
unique characteristic combined with high speed nodes complicates the design of the
network and issues of stability, reliability and scalability are of concern. Although the
technology used in IEEE 802.11 has reached a high level of maturity and is capable
of providing high bit rates, its performance in high speed transmission and
adaptability to channel conditions ranging from strong line of sight to Rayleigh fading
are of concern.
Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, have shown superior performance
compared to single antenna systems for mobile communications in rich scattering.
Although the line of sight is ideal for single antenna systems, it severely degrades
the performance of VBLAST systems since it increases the correlation between the
antennas. A channel update algorithm using single tap Kalman filters for VBLAST in
flat fading channels has also been derived and evaluated. This lecture presents
research carries out in the physical layer for efficient high date communication
algorithm and describe a patented MAC layer protocol named SOFT MAC.
11:30-13:00: RFID Technology: Implementation & Requirements
Prof. Mohammed Boulmalf, Al Akhawayne University, Morocco
13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00-15:45
Workshop 3: Wireless Sensors Network ( CrossBow Mica Motes)
Dr. Abderrahim Tahiri, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco
Description:
This workshop aims to perform some experimentations of wireless sensor network deployment. The training will build by three steps; first phase, we will configure the wireless sensor nodes with specific software provided by the CrossBow platform according to the node's mission in the whole system, such as, we will program some nodes as bases station which will monitor its interest region and gather the data from their neighbours or other whole network's nodes, and configure other node as simples node capable only to monitor and forward the event collected to one of their available and close neighbour. Second stage, we will deploy the set of wireless sensor nodes in an ad hoc structure and we will check the network connection. Finally, the system will be able to collect and transmits the data gathered hop by hop until the central base station which will store all the measurements in the data base computer and release all analysis and generate grades. `
15:45-16:15: Coffee Break
16:30-18:00
Dr. Mohamed Moussaoui, Abdelmalek Essaadi University, Morocco
Description:
The radio access part of the wireless network is considered of essential importance as it is the direct physical radio connection between the mobile equipment and the core part of the network. In order to meet the requirements of the mobile services, the radio network must offer sufficient coverage and capacity while maintaining the lowest possible deployment costs.
In a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) network, UTRAN (UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) accounts for 70-80% of an operator's total expenditure on the network. Therefore, careful planning and optimization of UTRAN is vital for the success of any 3G (3rd Generation) operator.
This course designed to provide a solid understanding of how a radio network is designed and planned for UMTS. The course emphasizes the understanding of the intimate relation between capacity and coverage and the impact on capacity and coverage by different parameters. The principles for handling mixtures of speech, real- time and non-real time services are also in focus. Code planning, power planning, co- existence issues and capacity enhancing techniques are covered. UMTS Radio Network Planning includes illustrative examples and practical exercises.
DAY 3: Wednesday, December 22, 2010
08:00-09:30: Mobile Radio Network Planning For Fututre Wireless Systems
Prof. Fransisco Falcone, Public University of Navarre, Spain
Description:
Mobile networks have revolutionized everyday's life. From the initial analog first generation systems to the latest HSPA packet networks, mobile internet has become the major driver in the mobile telecom industry. The future fourth generation mobile networks will be deployed following 3GPP Long Term Evolution standard. Starting from Release 8, LTE heavily relies on modified physical layer as well as on scheduling handling implemented in Layer 2 as well as Layer 3 of the evolved protocol stack. High level modulation schemes are present, such as 64-QAM, as well as OFDMA access techniques and diversity schemes based on MIMO. Even though all of these techniques enable multimegabit speeds (up to 1Gbps in 3GPP R8 , LTE advanced), 4G systems require thorough analysis of the interference scenario in which they operate. It is therefore necessary to analyze the values of SNR as well as EVM in different adaptive modulation and coding schemes to determine precisely coverage ratios as well as grade of service and sustainable bit rates. LTE will have a strong presence in Femtocell environments, where indoor characterization of radio-propagation channel will enable adequate optimization (hierarchical cell deployment and cell relations) as well planning. In this seminar, 4G systems will be described, placing special attention to radio channel requirements. Challenges and solutions will be described in order to fulfill the demanding system requirements of these systems.
09:30-10:00: Coffee Break
10:00-11:30: From the Killer Application to the Killer Environment
Dr. Ahmed Bencheikh, Telecom Strategy Consulting Group (TSCG), USA
Description:
The talk will focus on showing how the telecom ecosystem is changing and that we should stop searching for the killer App but rather focus on building a killer environment that allows the operator to leverage the best of what each player in the ecosystem has to offer. The talk will explain how the different components the NGN (Next Generation Networks) such as LTE, EPCN IMS and SDP, come together to enable that killer environment. We will also explain the role of smart handsets and devices in enabling such environment. Will share some data showing the growth in mobile penetration, the exponential growth of data traffic, how video will dominate the mobile world, etc. and explain the challenges facing the operators and how to address them.
11:30-13:00: Seamless Voice Convergence of Existing Wireline/Wireless Networks using IP Multimedia Subsystems (IMS)
Dr. Luay H. Tahat, Gulf University for Science and Technology, Kuwait
Wireless Service Providers want to introduce compelling new services that rapidly generate revenue – starting with seamless voice convergence. Seamless voice convergence gained a lot of momentum in the Service Provider industry. Seamless voice convergence is enabled through the interworking of cellular service and Wi-Fi domains. This converged voice service, or Dual Mode Service (DMS), which allows a subscriber to seamlessly access services while moving between Wi-Fi and cellular networks using a dual mode handset (DMH). Roaming and handoff between the cellular and Wi-Fi domains form the central parts of any dual mode service. However, in our view, we believe that a Dual Mode Service solution must go further than only addressing the end-user needs to improve reachability when subscribers are located in the home and roaming in/out of the cellular environment. This voice convergence solution must offer subscribers a new range of hot communication services that enhance the value of the user experience. Fixed residential and enterprise users receive telephony services through Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). The service includes the ability to simultaneously ring multiple endpoints, ring them distinctively for different called numbers, and view logs of all calls. This can be achieved by building dual mode service solution based on the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), which is an open, standards-based solution for delivering advanced communications services over IP networks. Several architectures have been proposed to develop Dual Mode Service solution. In this talk, we show several architectures approaches in designing DMS and report our experiences designing, and integrating a carrier-grade DMS based on an IMS architecture that overcomes many limitations found in other solutions. We compare these solutions with respect to cost, efficiency, and the benefits for service provide and end user.
Topics to be covered:
13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00-15:45
Workshop 5: RFID: The Next Internet of Things
Dr. Mehdia Ajana EL Khaddar, Ministry of Education, Morocco
Description:
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is an enabling technology that has been used since the Second World War to identify “friend or foe” aircraft, recent years it is widely employed in a number of application areas such as healthcare, highway tolls, access control, in tracking livestock movements and air freight, in motor car manufacturing, and in supply chain management (SCM). In 2003, RFID tags were used for pallets and cases by both Wal-Mart and the Department of Defense (DoD) of U.S.A to conduct business with their major suppliers. Wal-Mart has even extended the requirements to use RFID to all its suppliers by 2006. Therefore RFID has allowed Wal-Mart to create value through greater visibility in supply chain networks, higher product velocity, reduced labor cost, more efficient inventory management and reduced human error. This may eventually lead to the accomplishment of Quick Response (QR) in the SCM and allow business to improve their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) as well. However, it is still not clear if these objectives can be fully achieved due to high RFID system components costs and uncertain Return-Of-Investment (ROI). To achieve the maximum benefits of RFID technology, a dedicated middleware solution is required for managing and monitoring RFID readers or other types of sensing devices, as well as processing dynamically generated high volumes of noisy RFID data. Apart from these, such middleware should possess useful contextual characteristics such as implicit semantics, and support rapid RFID based application development. The middleware components serve to abstract the communication between the middleware and the different types of sensing devices on one hand, and the middleware and backend applications on the other hand.
Thus, in this workshop, we will talk about RFID technology. This includes a description of RFID technology and system components (tags, reader, and middleware), comparison with other Automatic Identification Systems (e.g. barcode systems, optical character recognition systems…), advantages and disadvantages of RFID, RFID applications, RFID middleware components in details and why we need to have a middleware. Then we will talk about the RFID middleware we developed and its applications in different fields: library management, and supply chain management (SCM). `
15:45-16:15: Coffee Break
16:30-18:00
Dr
. Otman Chakkor, Abdelmalek Essaadi University , MoroccoDescription:
The goal
of this course is the introduction to the complexities involved in dimensioning
and planning of Wimax, with specific emphasis on Key Wimax features and planning
techniques that need to be considered for optimal network coverage, capacity,
and service requirements.
In theory, Wimax technology allows a huge number of optional and mandatory
features and promises large coverage and higher data throughput in comparison to
the existing 2G/3G technologies. In this workshop, we will explain the
challenges involved in network planning due to such features, with further
description of the step-by-step approach to network dimensioning and planning.