FACILITIES
The facilities within the Centre are being constantly changed and updated almost on a
monthly basis. The list below should be treated as a representative only.
Digital audio/video compression laboratory (Room 113, Building 31)
An excellently equipped laboratory for audio and video coding research, with about $1,000,000
worth of equipment. The equipment includes a RAM-based video sequencer
for real-time playback of high resolution sequences prepared frame-by-frame
on computers, a D1 digital video player for recording and playing sequences
for independent international evaluation, a digital Betacam player (with
analog Betacam playback), an S-VHS player, a 1" tape player, an Optibase
Fusion MPEG2 digital video compresssor, and the Siemens Eikona video compression
system.
Advanced network and video services laboratory (Room 111, Building 31)
One of the leading laboratories in Australia for the development and testing of new network equipment for ATM and Ethernet networks. The laboratory contains a Newbridge 36150 ATM edge switch, a Fore ASX-200BX ATM backbone switch with 155 Mbit/s optical fibre ports, a First Virtual workgroup switch with 25 Mbit/s ATM twisted pair copper ports, Ethernet switches, an HP Broadband Series Test System, and an HP Broadband Services Analyser. The laboratory has connections to wide area ATM networks, and also cable TV networks
TV quality video conferencing is available to sites in Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Sydney using the Telstra wide area ATM network. In addition PC based ISDN video conferencing is also available
The laboratory also supports the development of advanced video services. The laboratory has a range of personal computers with different types of network interfaces and different types of video decoding hardware to test different video service models
The laboratory also uses the Opnet network simulation software and a range of Ethernet network analysis and management tools
CTIE has built up an extensive testbed facility for trialing network based applications
in a multi-vendor, multi-technology environment. Networking technology
includes both ATM and Ethernet switching from vendors including Fore (now
Marconi), Cabletron and NEC as well as routing equipment from Cisco and
open-source routing based on Linux PCs. This networking equipment is backed
up by high-end ATM analysis equipment from Hewlett Packard (now Agilent)
and IP analysis equipment including Shomiti Surveyor and Ethereal.
Augmenting the fixed network are a number of wireless networking technologies. There
is an IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN including equipment from D-Link and 3Com
as well as PCs linked by "Bluetooth" wireless links. CTIE also has a satellite
Earth station connected to the testbed as well as research time slots on
the PanAmSat PAS-8 satellite.
Mobile IPv6 and IPv6 Multicast are supported in the testbed.
Connected to this network are video servers from Microsoft and Silicon Graphics covering
everything from very low-rate Internet video to high quality MPEG-2 video
streaming. Also connected are a number of video streaming clients and video
conferencing systems, as well as a video encoding facility that can create
MPEG 1 & 2 files from a number of input source types.
Collectively this constitutes a very flexible facility that allows network applications
to be tested in a diverse, heterogeneous environment.
Digital Signal Processing laboratory
The DSP laboratory is equipped with 32 computer stations. The DSP hardware/software has been
supplied by Texas Instruments. Half of these computer stations have TMS320C6201 (13) fixed point or TMS320C6701 floating
point internal EVM boards suitable for image or numerically intensive applications. The other half are equipped
with both internal TMS320C54 EVM's and TMS320C5402 external DSK Kits suitable
for lower power applications. All are running Code Composer Studio with DSP/Bios capabilities.
In addition there are 16 TMS320C24 external EVM modules for first phase DSP hardware projects.
Laboratories are designed for real signal acquisition, processing/analysis and output.
Microwave and telecommunications laboratories
The Centre is equipped with extensive microwave facilities. The coaxial equipment
includes signal generators and oscillators and various components suitable
for frequencies up to 4 GHz as well as X-band waveguide apparatus for frequencies
in the 8.5 - 9.5 GHz range. Additional equipment available in the laboratory
includes a wide-band sweep signal generator usable up to 12 GHz, a vector
voltmeter, a time-domain reflectometer and an admittance meter.
A general purpose antenna range has been installed. It comprises two towers 17 metres high
and 85 metres apart. A fixed source is located in one tower and the receiving
antenna is mounted on a steerable positioner on the other tower. The associated
control equipment and pattern plotter are located in the laboratory. Other
antenna equipment includes a field strength measuring set for the 0.1 -
30 MHz range.
The facilities also include an anechoic (electromagnetic) chamber for indoor antenna measurements
in the frequency range of 2 GHz to 20 GHz and a 5 x 2.5 x 2.5 cubic metre
electromagnetically screened chamber for EMC measurements is currently
under constuction.
For communications systems research, a range of signal generators, several noise sources and
a spectrum analyser are available, as well as specialized equipment constructed
in the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering. In addition,
the undergraduate laboratory is equipped with a range of communication-system
modules with which a variety of modulation processes can be investigated.
For telecommunication and computer network simulation, the laboratory has many dedicated computers including the CTIE Pizzeria (linux cluster), Sun Sparc systems and a variety of open source and commercial simulation packages.
Optical Communications and Applied Photonics Laboratory
The Centre is equipped with a research and teaching laboratory for optical communications
and applied photonics including the following:
For Optical Systems and Networks Modeling:
Extensive modeling MATLAB-based platform for computer aided design of single channels and
dense wavelength division multiplexed optical fibre communications systems
and networks, design tools for optical transport networks, basic optical
transmission system components.
Design with external collaboration for linear and nonlinear integrated photonic components,
especially electro-optic multi-GHz optical modulators, high-precision packaging
platform for integrated photonic component technology.
Electronic noise suppressed optical receivers and transmitters for quantum optical
communications.
CONFERENCES
The Centre for Telecommunications and Information Engineering holds external conferences,
often in collaboration with its industry partners and interested user groups.
The Centre participates and presents at conferences in other areas of Engineering
that are increasingly realising the benefits of telecommunications and
information technologies in their industry.
POSTGRADUATE OPPORTUNITIES
http://www.ecse.monash.edu.au/prosp/postgrad.html
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[ MUCBE]
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