Scaling Up Satellite Communications for the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a revolution in sensing and automation that is becoming vital for industries including farming and mining. However, in remote areas, it is especially challenging to connect the large numbers of devices needed. This project will develop novel signal processing and communications approaches to deliver high quality data services to vast numbers of remote IoT devices, distributed over continental scales c ....Scaling Up Satellite Communications for the Internet of Things. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a revolution in sensing and automation that is becoming vital for industries including farming and mining. However, in remote areas, it is especially challenging to connect the large numbers of devices needed. This project will develop novel signal processing and communications approaches to deliver high quality data services to vast numbers of remote IoT devices, distributed over continental scales connected via low earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations. It will provide the tools for LEO satellite service providers to dimension their networks and assist IoT providers to scale their remote sensor networks and IoT deployments, with ever increasing demand on the limited satellite bandwidth.Read moreRead less
Downlinks for Future Earth Observation Satellites: Breaking the Bottlenecks. Future earth-observation satellites require gigabit transmission rates in higher frequency bands. Limitations in the radio frequency spectrum call for spectrally-efficient modulation schemes, which make gigabit data rates particularly challenging. This project aims to design a next-generation transmission scheme for future Ka-Band gigabit satellite downlinks, including novel approaches for dealing with channel effects s ....Downlinks for Future Earth Observation Satellites: Breaking the Bottlenecks. Future earth-observation satellites require gigabit transmission rates in higher frequency bands. Limitations in the radio frequency spectrum call for spectrally-efficient modulation schemes, which make gigabit data rates particularly challenging. This project aims to design a next-generation transmission scheme for future Ka-Band gigabit satellite downlinks, including novel approaches for dealing with channel effects such as group delay, ripple and non-linear satellite power amplifiers. The design intends to include high-speed signal processing and coding architectures, plus real-time signal synthesis and acquisition to allow realistic performance testing and optimisation with satellite hardware from Thales Alenia Space.Read moreRead less
Reliable bi-directional machine-type communications for smart agriculture. This project aims to develop innovative solutions for agricultural machine-type communications to provide robust and bi-directional coverage for remote agriculture areas with difficult terrain, by leveraging smart-sensor-enabled, energy-efficient uplink transmissions and ultra-reliable downlink transmissions. Machine-type communications have been recognised as a key enabler for the future smart agriculture and smart farms ....Reliable bi-directional machine-type communications for smart agriculture. This project aims to develop innovative solutions for agricultural machine-type communications to provide robust and bi-directional coverage for remote agriculture areas with difficult terrain, by leveraging smart-sensor-enabled, energy-efficient uplink transmissions and ultra-reliable downlink transmissions. Machine-type communications have been recognised as a key enabler for the future smart agriculture and smart farms. The project will use novel agricultural machine-type communication theories and develop test-beds to enable the smart agricultural applications. This is expected to contribute to the crucial communication infrastructures for smart farms, which will lead to higher agricultural productivity and national economy.Read moreRead less
New Technologies for Second Generation Search and Rescue. This project aims to improve the Cospas-Sarsat search and rescue system to ensure faster, more reliable, more accurate, and more cost-effective search and rescue operations, ultimately saving lives. The satellite-based Cospas-Sarsat system has assisted with the emergency rescue of more than 35 000 lives worldwide since its introduction in 1982. A second generation of this system is currently under development, promising to significantly i ....New Technologies for Second Generation Search and Rescue. This project aims to improve the Cospas-Sarsat search and rescue system to ensure faster, more reliable, more accurate, and more cost-effective search and rescue operations, ultimately saving lives. The satellite-based Cospas-Sarsat system has assisted with the emergency rescue of more than 35 000 lives worldwide since its introduction in 1982. A second generation of this system is currently under development, promising to significantly improve detection rate and localisation accuracy. However, in an emergency, the system’s performance is often compromised due to interference and atmospheric effects, leading to false detections that waste valuable resources. This project aims to develop novel techniques to improve this performance.Read moreRead less
Safer roads through wireless communications. Each year, about 1,300 people die, and almost 30,000 are injured on Australian roads. Vehicle manufacturers are currently trialling innovative systems that will allow vehicles to wirelessly share their position and warn the driver of unsafe situations. This project will add new features to these systems, improving their safety benefits.
Localization of a wireless transponder in a vehicular environment. This project aims to accurately localise passenger wireless devices, in particular the key fob, to improve theft security, passenger safety and user functionality. The objective of the project is to develop a communications band localisation system in a vehicular environment with 10-centimetre accuracy, both inside the vehicle cabin and near to the exterior of the vehicle. Accurate localisation of passenger wireless devices poses ....Localization of a wireless transponder in a vehicular environment. This project aims to accurately localise passenger wireless devices, in particular the key fob, to improve theft security, passenger safety and user functionality. The objective of the project is to develop a communications band localisation system in a vehicular environment with 10-centimetre accuracy, both inside the vehicle cabin and near to the exterior of the vehicle. Accurate localisation of passenger wireless devices poses a challenging research problem because of the severe multipath environment. An innovative solution based on time-difference-of-arrival methodologies, data fusion, sophisticated recursive filtering techniques and illumination scheduling will be investigated. The outcome is potentially applicable to other localisation scenarios degraded by multipath.Read moreRead less
Creating a smart city through internet of things. This project will deliver smart new ways of urban monitoring using ubiquitous sensing and data analysis for city management and sustainability. It will deliver researcher training, global clientele for local technology and a platform for local industry growth.
Integrated optical phased arrays for light detection and ranging (LIDAR). This project aims to resolve challenging problems in light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to enable realisation of LIDAR sensors with low-power consumption, small size, high resolution and low cost. It proposes new techniques for integrated silicon photonic beam-steering to reduce the Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP), and achieve high-resolution beams with hardware reduction. Outcomes herald disruptive, compact on-chip LIDAR ....Integrated optical phased arrays for light detection and ranging (LIDAR). This project aims to resolve challenging problems in light detection and ranging (LIDAR) to enable realisation of LIDAR sensors with low-power consumption, small size, high resolution and low cost. It proposes new techniques for integrated silicon photonic beam-steering to reduce the Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP), and achieve high-resolution beams with hardware reduction. Outcomes herald disruptive, compact on-chip LIDAR technology for various applications including secure communications, miniaturized sensing, tracking systems, and autonomous vehicles. Significant benefits include industry growth, safeguarding Australia, and major economic benefits underpinning a huge market encompassing autonomous vehicles and robotics.
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Development of fundamental perception technology and algorithms for mining safety. The project will push the boundaries of mining safety research to deliver innovative and powerful tools to understand and control the level of risk of an operation. This knowledge will be used to develop algorithms to best assess safety issues in different scenarios, to design safety procedures and to develop operator training.
A Novel Inline High-Efficiency Motor/Pump System. Around 19% of the world’s and 30% of the Australia’s electric energy is consumed by pump technologies. Significant energy savings are possible if the major components of pump systems, including inverter, motor and pump, operate at their maximum possible efficiency under varying loads. A novel pump design in this project accommodates integrated electronics in a submersible housing. A seal-less design helps mitigate several aspects of pump failure ....A Novel Inline High-Efficiency Motor/Pump System. Around 19% of the world’s and 30% of the Australia’s electric energy is consumed by pump technologies. Significant energy savings are possible if the major components of pump systems, including inverter, motor and pump, operate at their maximum possible efficiency under varying loads. A novel pump design in this project accommodates integrated electronics in a submersible housing. A seal-less design helps mitigate several aspects of pump failure and its in-line structure reduces assembly cost. Accurately measured efficiency maps will be utilised to demonstrate the non-linear relationship between motor and pump quantities as well as developing models for indirectly estimating feedback quantities and achieving the highest system efficiency.Read moreRead less