Project Overview

WARP is a scalable and extensible wireless platform built from the ground up to create a true community platform. The project includes the design, development and dissemination of the platform to enable high-performance research throughout our multi-faceted wireless community.

• Infrastructure: The WARP infrastructure is a complete system with custom hardware, support packages, design tools and application libraries. The hardware uses FPGAs for DSP-optimized development, where the number of FPGAs can be scaled as necessary to deliver increased computational power as needed. Multiple daughtercard slots support a wide range of I/O devices (MIMO radios, video I/O etc) and/or other co-processors. WARP programming tools and support packages will ensure that software stays compatible with future hardware revisions.
  
• Open-Access Repository: We will initiate, maintain and grow the WARP open-access repository, which will contain building blocks for a wide range of wireless systems. The open-access repository will allow researchers to integrate our standard building blocks with custom components to assemble complete systems.
• Partnerships, Education and Dissemination: We will use three methods to develop a community of WARP users. The first will be focused workshops, which will be co-sponsored by Xilinx Inc., to educate attendees on programming and extending WARP. The second will be research partnerships with multiple university and industry groups. Third will be a student exchange program, where students will spend extended periods of time developing their research on WARP.
  

WARP Architecture: The platform consists of three layers - hardware, platform support packages and application design.