FIU College of Engineering and Computing
RF Communications and THz Lab (RFComm)
Faculty Points of Contact:
Dr. John Volakis, jvolakis@fiu.edu , (305) 348-1197
Dr. Stavros Georgakopoulos, georgako@fiu.edu , (305) 348-1262
The RF Communications and THz Lab at Florida International University in the College of Engineering and Computing is devoted to world-class electromagnetic research in scattering, antennas, propagation, RF system, sensors and sensing, wireless, signal processing, sensor fusion, THz, and photonics research. RF-WIFIT lab is comprised of 7 faculty. Our faculty, research scientists, and students are involved in all aspects of electromagnetic and RF technologies, including:
Antennas, Bio-nanotechnology and nano-imprinting, Bio-Optics, Computational methods and design, Electromagnetic compatibility and interference, Radars, Measurements Techniques, Device modeling, Multi-physics engineerin, Packaging and interconnect design, Photonics, Propagation, Radar imaging, Remote sensing, RF integrated circuits (RFICs) and systems, RF materials & characterization, Sensor fusion, Neurosensing, Signal processing, THz communications, Flexible and Wearable electronics, RF energy harvesting, Textile electronics. The RF/Electromagnetics lab at FIU has an extensive array of RF equipment. More than 5 network analyzer systems are available and operate from 10 MHz to 115GHz (see later below). Materials measurement capability is also available either using commercial analyzers or in-house fixtures for broadband and higher frequency characterization. An indoor anechoic chamber to support research in antennas, remote sensing, photonics, RF integrated circuits, and wireless systems planning. There are also major activities in medical sensors, RFIDs, terahertz and textile electronics as well as ink-printing, 3D printing and microwave etching facilities. At least 6 faculty members are engaged in the above research activities. Also, FIU maintains many simulation tools for exact and large scale computing, propagation, antenna design, radome design and fabrication. Access to commercially available software packages are HSPICE, ADS, CADENCE, HFSS, FEKO, CST, XFDTD etc. are available.
Integrated Nanosystems Research Lab (INSYST)
Faculty Point of Contact:
Dr. Nezih Pala, npala@fiu.edu , (305) 348-3016
Dr. Pala’s Integrated Nanosystems Research Lab (INSYST) houses various equipment for synthesis and advanced electrical, optical and material characterization for device and structures at micro- and nano- scale. The capabilities include:
FIU Wireless Mesh IoT Network_Testbed
Faculty Point of Contact:
Dr. Kemal Akkaya, kakkaya@fiu.edu , (305) 348-3017
Advanced Wireless and Security (ADWISE) Lab at ECE dept. maintains a wireless mesh network testbed that consists of 20 Raspberry PI IoT nodes that are deployed on the 3rd floor of Engineering Center. This testbed is capable of running Wi-Fi Mesh (IEEE 802.11s standard) as well as Zigbee standard to form multi-hop communication links among each node to report to a server that is hosted in the ADWISE Lab on the same floor and remotely accessible. This testbed is an excellent opportunity to conduct testing for various domains such as smart meter communications in an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), a network of IoT nodes, smart home network, etc. where one can either test the performance of the existing protocols/standards or develop new protocols to assess their effectiveness. The testbed supports protocols mainly at the application layer of the protocol stack for data collection, firmware updates, multicasting, cryptographic solutions, quality of service (QoS) and blockchain consensus algorithms for IoT devices. The testbed can also be used for educational purposes to teach certain IoT communication concepts.