Higher Ed campuses are pushing the limits of the amount of data carried over communications networks, and must determine how fast, how far, and how reliable communications systems can be.
Besma Smida, Associate Professor of the Electrical and Engineering Department at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), leads research at the Networks Information Communications and Engineering Systems Laboratory (NICEST). Her research is funded by the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense and focuses on information and data processing, communication, and storage over networks. The lab’s goal is to understand the spectrum from theory to practice. “We tackle these challenges from information theoretic, statistical signal processing, communication theoretic, and networking angles,” she said.
Smida presented challenges and the shift in focus recently as part of Fierce Education’s virtual event The Connected Campus. Now that most higher ed institutions have expanded offerings so that they are pushing the capacity of their systems, university leaders are investigating what they need to buy to expand their connected campuses.
Her sessions “The Next Generation in Network Strategies is Here”, was sponsored by AT&T and included commentary from Rayan Rutledge, Principal Architect, AT&T.
A shift in focus
Network capacity has long been the focus, Smida said, which allowed campuses to ignore latency constraints in the current systems. “Now that we are pushing the limits of networks, we are hitting some performance issues,” she said. Latency, or communication delay, in wireless communication can become a problem with video loading time for example. “You can’t have a high data rate, low probability of error, and low latency at the same time,” Smida said. To reduce the probability of error, the packet size needs to be increased.
Even for those colleges that have switched to 5G have performance issues. For example, if you’re controlling a drone, you need the network to be highly responsive and low latency so the drone doesn’t hit the wall. But you don’t need a high data rate that is required to stream a movie.
6G is not fully developed from an academic perspective. Its development is moving parallel to the adoption of 5G supported networks. 6G will have additional components such as AI and machine learning added to 5G capabilities. Colleges and universities are just beginning to see new opportunities as their technology matures and includes responsive wireless technologies, sensors, and data processing to help campus, city, and health communities thrive.
Campus-wide wireless detection networks contribute to safer communities.
- Urban communicates have public-facing cameras and sensors that generate enormous amounts of data used after the fact to solve crimes.
- Real-time, machine-learning driven surveillance system will be more reactive. It will integrate video and acoustic sensors with cheap, wirelessly connected sensors like sound (gun shots, shattered glass, etc.), infrared, ultrasound, and wireless motion sensors to anticipate and de-escalate critical situations.
Other needs for expanding capabilities
Another practical application of maturing technologies is to integrate remote sensing solutions using drone camera images to capture structural degradation in buildings, and raise public awareness of aging structures. Important for some campuses, transportation programs are testing autonomous vehicles and need sensors for control and charging electric vehicles.
The move into the next stage of network expansion requires even more connectivity and accessibility, said Smida. “We need a very high data rate, especially for synchronous/asynchronous learning,” Smida said. “I’m thinking that sufficient connection for a campus would be a little bit beyond that.”
For more articles from the Connected Campus event, see: