Integrated Wireless Communication Systems
iWCS brings together researchers involved in the design and development of advanced wireless technology - from communication theory and techniques to systems and hardware. The breadth of research spans:
iWCS is directed by A/Prof Linda Davis and boasts as the birth place of Radiata Communications, Macquarie University's most successful commercial startup business venture in the communications and microelectronics sector.
Radiata was founded by two adjunct professors of the Electronics Department in 1998, Neil Weste and David Skellern who successfully commercialised their wireless LAN technology. The company developed a broadband modem chip compatible with the 802.11a 54Mb/s wireless LAN standard, descended from the DMT-50. It also developed a 5GHz RF chip in CMOS. The company grew rapidly to a work force of 60 by the end of 2000 and was bought shortly after by communications giant Cisco Systems for $US295 million as part of their strategic plan to move into the enterprise wireless networking market.
Building on the success of Radiata and the extensive knowledge of its founders who retain links with the department, the iWCS group is currently researching an exciting new area of wireless networking technology in the 60GHz frequency realm. This project, which forms part of a collaborative effort between three Australian Universities and international industry partners to design and prototype a low cost, single-chip RF transceiver and digital baseband processor capable of short range, 1Gigabit/s wireless networking for consumer applications at 60GHz.