ARA PAWR Update & Participation Invitation

We are excited to share that the ARA PAWR platform has successfully completed most of its Phase-1 development, and it is now ready for supporting research experiments in 5G-and-beyond technologies and their applications in domains such as agriculture automation and XR-based EdTech. Please find below a list of unique experimental studies feasible at ARA:

  • Long-distance, high-capacity wireless x-haul systems ranging from microwave (11GHz) to mmWave (70-80 GHz) and free space optical communications (194THz);
  • TVWS massive MIMO systems with programmable production-quality implementation;
  • Open-source, fully-programmable SDR-based 5G systems with O-RAN support;
  • State-of-the-art Ericsson 5G massive MIMO and mmWave systems;
  • Advanced wireless applications in domains such as agriculture automation and XR-based EdTech;
  • Translational research through engagement with 65+ public-private partners of ARA across diverse communities and industries as well as the OPERA open-source ecosystem for advanced wireless and rural broadband.

We plan to start the ARA beta test early May, and we expect to release ARA to the broad community around this summer. We will organize a webinar during 12:30am – 1:30pm CT on Friday, May 5th to share the latest status of ARA and to discuss the beta test and other activities open for community participations. Registration for the webinar is accepted here by 12pm CT Thursday, May 4th.

For developing ARA living lab activities to best serve the broad community, your help with responding to this short survey at your earliest convenience (and, if possible, Tuesday, May 9th) will be invaluable and greatly appreciated.

ARA Research Community Survey

The ARA wireless living lab is the fourth PAWR platform funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the PAWR Industry Consortium. It is a community platform to drive research, education, and innovation in rural broadband. 

The ARA Project Team would like to request the community’s help in identifying the technologies, experiments, and use cases that are of interest to the research endeavors led by the broad community. Your input through this survey will be invaluable in helping maximize the utility of ARA to the community and is highly appreciated.  The survey is accessible via this following link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScy8-mqQpyrHF0Db4WPOLpWA2z40F3weH2zS7s0ceIhcPfweA/viewform?usp=sf_link.

For your reference, the First ARA Research Community Workshop was held at the end of June 2021. The presentations and recordings of the workshop can be found at https://arawireless.org/first-rws/ . In particular, an overview of the ARA project can be found at https://iastate.box.com/s/uvjirh2s149jq574unpubw32tfdnjx7g.  

As a gentle reminder, you are most welcome to join the ARA initiative, and please refer to https://arawireless.org/call-for-participation/ for details.  

If you may have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to reach out to the ARA Research Working Group at research@arawireless.org.

June 22 invitation – PAWR Program Announces First Rural Broadband Testbed

PAWR announcement of ARA!

You are invited to attend a live, online event to announce the fourth testbed in the Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program, a $100 million effort funded by the National Science Foundation and an industry consortium of 35 leading wireless companies and associations. The fourth testbed will focus on wireless technologies for rural broadband connectivity. The launch event will include an overview of the platform, as well as remarks from distinguished program officials and partners. 

Please join us on June 22 at 2:00pm Eastern for the live event. We expect the program to wrap up in 30 minutes. 

Click here to register:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_GDUchbt4QbGGVwNayim4Mw

Speakers will include:

  • NSF Director Sethuraman Panchanathan (to be confirmed, high level replacement substituted as needed)
  • NIFA Director Carrie Castille
  • Ericsson Vice President Paul Challoner

Call for Participation

Using ARA

As an advanced rural wireless living lab, ARA supports research, education, and innovation in wireless, rural broadband, broadband applications (e.g., agriculture, education, transportation, public safety, community services), as well as their real-world, experimental pilots. Interested in co-shaping the development and use of ARA with other users and the project team? Please join the ara-users Google group. To reach out to the ARA project team, please email contact@arawireless.org.

Partnering with ARA Project Team

The ARA initiative is championed by the ARA project team and a broad consortium of ARA partners from academia, industry, communities, and government who are collaborating to not only address the rural broadband challenge but also leverage rural broadband as an opportunity for wireless research and innovation as well as rural community and economic development. Intrigued by this vision? Join us to redefine rural broadband as well as community and economic development!

Hosting ARA Wireless Equipment

ARA is expected to provide advanced wireless coverage for any locations within about 6 miles range from any of the ARA sites shown in the ARA deployment map, and we are looking for volunteers to host ARA equipment at select locations to support experimental pilots, research, education, and innovation. Interested in trying out advanced ARA broadband systems and supporting rural broadband research, education, and innovation? Please fill in this ARA hosting form. If you may have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at infrastructure@arawireless.org.

Joining the ARA Project Team

Interested in joining ARA and related projects as a postdoc, research scientist, engineer, manager, or student please check out WiCI career.