COMNET as a Capacity-Building Partner for Two African Institutions

Cookie Friday Presentation, 24/05/2013, COMNET Department, Aalto

Edward MutafungwaDepartment of Communications and NetworkingAalto School of Electrical Engineering, Aalto UniversityEspoo, Finland

Outline• Background• ENhANCE consortium• Addressed challenges• Target outcomes• Brief overview of COMNET deliverables• Immediate next steps

Background 1(2)• Full title: Enhancing Education and Research in

Networking and Communications Engineering• Acronym: ENhANCE• Duration: 24 months (2 years)• Type of project: Government-funded, capacity-building• Project coordinator: COMNET, Aalto University• Consortium size: 3 partners• Total budget: 0,5m EUR (inc. 20% self-financing)

Background 2(2)• Higher Education Institutions Institutional Cooperation

Instrument (HEI ICI) – Funding instrument by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland– Aim: ”…strengthen administrative, field-specific, methodological

and pedagogical capacity”– Supports collaboration projects between HEIs in Finland and

developing countries • Priority countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Nepal, Tanzania,

Vietnam and Zambia– Duration: 1-3 years– 23 projects selected for 2013-15 period (3 from Aalto)

• For further info on this and similar instruments:– Kiruthika Srinivasan, Aalto University Coordinator for

International Projects <kiruthika.srinivasan@aalto.fi>

ENhANCE Consortium 1(3)• Three partners HEIs

1. COMNET, Aalto-ELEC, Finland 2. Department of Electrical and Computer

Engineering (ECED), Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT), Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

3. College of Information and Communication Technologies (CoICT), University of Dar esSalaam (UDSM), Tanzania

ENhANCE Consortium 2(4)• COMNET team

– Project Leader: Prof. Riku Jäntti– Technology Lead and Engineering Curriculum Advisor: Prof. Jyri

Hämäläinen– Coordinator/Project Manager: Edward Mutafungwa– Project Assistant & Wireless Networks Expert: Beneyam Haile– Software Radio Expert: Kalle Ruttik– Software Radio Expert: Yihenew Dagne Beyene

– Expert on Academic Communications: Laura Mendoza

– …plus other COMNET staff involved by request on specific cases

ENhANCE Consortium 3(4)• AAiT, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia

– 2,500 students are enrolled at School of ECE – 140 MSc and 2 PhD candidates

ENhANCE Consortium 4(4)• CoICT, University of Dar es Salaam,Tanzania

– Formed in January 2011• Merger School of Informatics and Communication Technologies

(SICT) with the Department of Electrical and Computer System Engineering (ECSE)

– Number of MSc and PhD intakes in CoICT is very low

Challenges Addressed by ENhANCE• Master’s and PhD-level curricula in networking and

communications engineering need of urgent updating

• Need to enhance skills of academic staff in specific areas– Improve quality of research – Adopt new pedagogical methods – Effective supervision of thesis research work

• Under-equipped research and teaching laboratory facilities

Targeted Outcomes• Introduction of new courses and pedagogical methods

• New Master’s level study program in area of communications and networking (CoICT-UDSM)

• Introduce new wireless technology tools for teaching and research

• Introduction of new industry outreach initiatives – Enforce their linkages to research and education programs

Overview of COMNET Deliverables 1(6)• Introduce Advanced Wireless Technologies course• COMNET knowledge/experience

– S-72.3216 Radio Communication Systems I – S-72.3226 Radio Communication Systems II

Base StationCity

θ Antenna Tilt Angle

Overview of COMNET Deliverables 2(6)• Wireless network simulation tools (for teaching and

research)– Matlab-based system simulators (created in COMNET)

10 Small Cells 30 Small Cells 60 Small Cells1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

5

Number of Rooftop Small CellsTh

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Gai

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Throughput Gain per Deployment Scenario

10th percentile50th percentile90th percentile

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.80

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

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Fairness Index

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F

Fairness Index CDF

Macro OnlyMacro & 10 Small Cells(Rooftop)Macro & 10 Small Cells(Indoor)Macro & 30 Small Cells(Rooftop)Macro & 30 Small Cells(Indoor)Macro & 60 Small Cells(Rooftop)Macro & 60 Small Cells(Indoor)

Overview of COMNET Deliverables 3(6)• Wireless network simulation tools (for teaching and

research)– Propagation modeling and network planning tool (commercial)

Overview of COMNET Deliverables 4(6)• Software radio platform (for teaching and research)

– Lab course content currently under preparation in COMNET

Overview of COMNET Deliverables 5(6)• Indoor positioning platform (for research)

– Using WLAN fingerprinting– Developed by Ville Miekk-Oja and team (InPoint/COMNET)

Overview of COMNET Deliverables 6(6)• Joint formulation of PBL-based (problem-based learning) course

– Problems defined by local industry partners, group-work

• Joint formulation of seminar course with speakers from local industry and government

• COMNET knowledge/experience– S-72.3120 Special Project in Communications – S-72.3510 Product Development of Telecommunication Systems– S-38.3001 Telecommunications Forum P

Next Steps…

• Teams from CoICT and AAiT (10-12 persons) visiting COMNET in August 2013– Training, demos, lab visits, presentations, project meeting etc.

• Smaller teams from COMNET to visit CoICT and AAiT in Autumn/Winter 2013– Lectures, training staff/students etc.– Joint supervision of selected theses works– Joint planning of industry outreach events etc.

Thank you for your attention!

Further info:Edward MutafungwaPostdoc Researcher/Project ManagerAalto UniversitySchool of Electrical EngineeringDepartment of Communications and Networking Otakaari 5A, Espoo, Finland edward.mutafungwa@aalto.fiTel: +358 40 733 3397