Wireless Communication Centre (WCC) is a research center at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FKE), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). The center boasts of two branches: the main center at the UTM Skudai campus and a city-center branch at the UTM Kuala Lumpur campus.
The WCC started as a research laboratory at the main UTM campus in Johor Bharu in 1989. It was upgraded to the status of Centre of Excellence (CoE) by the Ministry of Education (MoE) Malaysia in June 2003. The center further elevated to the prestigious status of Higher Institutional Centre of Excellent (HICoE) in November 2014. The WCC is the only center out of the 14 HiCOE in Malaysia to work on the area of wireless communications.
The four key research areas of WCC are:
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Antenna Design
Propagation Studies
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RF/Microwave Communication System
Wireless Communication System
To comply with the HICoE requirement, the WCC has streamlined its focus on the niche area of next-generation fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications, in particular on the research and development (RnD) of 5G antenna and propagation.
The WCC strives to establish strong research collaboration with other international research centers. Past notable research collaborators are Prof. Dr. Peter S. Hall from the University of Birmingham, Prof. Dr. Jehn-Ruey Jiang from the Chungbuk National University and Assoc. Prof. Dr. William S W Cheung from the University of Hong Kong. In 2016, WCC became an active member of the ATOM project, funded by the European Union (EU) Horizon 2020 research grant. Other members of the ATOM project include Lancaster University, University of York, University of Cyprus, Universiti Putra Malaysia, COMSAT IIT and the University of Peradeniya.
Apart from research, WCC also actively delves into products commercialization, contract research, and consultancy services. WCC was the main contributor to the International Mobile Telecommunication 2000 (IMT-2000) standardization activities in Malaysia. WCC has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to provide research, development, and training in the key areas of telecommunication. More recently in 2016, WCC UTM officially partnered with Ericson (Malaysia) for collaboration in the research and development of 5th Generation (5G) mobile communication technology.
From time to time, WCC also provides professional short courses to the telecommunication industry on topics related to wireless propagation and antenna design. Some of the courses offered in the past are 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) Technology, Hands-on Training on LTE RF Planning and Optimization and Certificate Course in Advanced Spectrum Management
The WCC features five laboratories to execute its research and development:
1) Antenna Measurement Lab (Anechoic Chamber)
Location: WCC UTM Skudai Campus
The anechoic chamber provides a radio frequency (RF) proof environment that isolates interference and stray field for high-frequency measurement of antenna and RF devices. The chamber is suitable for antenna measurement with the frequency range from 100 MHz to 40 GHz.
2) Propagation & Interference Laboratory
Location: WCC UTM Skudai Campus and UTM Kuala Lumpur Campus branch
The laboratory focuses on research, training and industry consultancy services related to physical wireless propagation channel and technology coexistence interference study. Research carried in this lab include wideband and narrowband channel measurement and modeling for the indoor and outdoor environment as well as rain attenuation measurement and modeling for the tropical region. The channel sounder and channel measurement systems can support up to 40 GHz to fulfill the needs of 5G researches.
3) Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Laboratory
Location: WCC UTM Skudai Campus
Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) laboratory provides measurement facility on SAR measurement of communication devices within the frequency range of 30 Hz to 3 GHz. SAR measures of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body when exposed to a radio frequency (RF) electromagnetic field and the data is highly valuable in the effort to put the public’s fear of high-frequency emission to ease.
4) Long Term Evolution (LTE) Lab
Location: WCC UTM Skudai Campus
The LTE lab is sponsored by MCMC and is in operation since 2011. The LTE lab aims to support demonstration and training as well as state-of-the-art LTE research & development. The lab is equipped with vector signal generator and analyzer as well as a base station emulator.
5) Wireless Industry Emission (WIE) Laboratory
Location: WCC UTM Skudai Campus
The wireless Industry Emission (WIE) lab endeavors to remotely collect, transmit and chart measurements from five EMF area monitors located in Malaysia. Research activities in the area of WIE aim to provide the general public with dependent and factual information about the subject of non-ionizing radiation (NIR) due to high-frequency emissions from mobile phone base stations.
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