The growing diversification and usage of wireless applications has led to an imminent scarcity in the bandwidth capacity they provide. This calls for a need in advancing today’s wireless networks to the next level. An ideal next-generation wireless network can be envisioned as one that should 1) provision broad bandwidth to support a large amount of multimedia traffic; 2) connect a number of heterogeneous devices; 3) provide QoS (Quality-of-service) support for different media streams; 4) provide low-power communication to preserve battery power of mobile devices. A typical UWB (Ultra Wideband) system serves as an apt solution to cater to these requirements.

The characteristics possessed by a UWB system like high bit rates within close range, low-power operation, resistance to multi-path fading and jamming, low-complexity transceiver, etc., help in provisioning a much needed high-speed, low-power communication in diverse wireless environments. With these characteristics, a UWB based network is a good candidate for next generation (4G) high speed wireless local area networks and personal area networks.

Since UWB’s high speed allows support for bandwidth hungry applications such as video which requires QoS support, this project is devoted to developing MAC protocols that not only utilizes the advantages provided by UWB technology but also provides the QoS support to multimedia applications.

The tasks of this project include:

1. MAC architecture: design MAC architectures that work in harmony with the UWB physical layer and provide QoS support.

2. Channel access control: develop channel access control schemes that provide QoS support.

3. Resource control model: formulate resource control model in UWB network and provide in-depth theoretical analysis.

4. Resource allocation algorithms: based on the resource control model, develop practical resource control algorithms that provide QoS support as well as optimize on resource usage.

5. Simulation model: develop a simulation framework that will allow us to validate and compare different MAC layer designs.