WiFi Mesh for the ARIANNA Experiment

Team Name: Ice Bears

Team Members: Jeremy Griffin (EE), Jake Canon (EE), Kelly Ngo(EE), Mengqi Wang(EE)

Mentor: Professor Stuart Kleinfelder

The ARIANNA research team has been studying the presence of neutrinos and cosmic rays in Antarctica since 2012. Their studies require the use of a long range WiFi connection for the stations that are used. Currently, there are 20 stations in Antarctica utilizing the AFAR technology for data transmission; however, this method is inefficient as the devices are bulky and the data can be corrupted by interference in frequency. We are determined to make a more efficient wireless network capable of transmitting data at a higher frequency while creating a compact solution.

Approach & Progress

We must design a long range mesh WiFi network. In order to do this, we’ve selected components to reach the different requirements assigned by our mentor. After selection and any necessary programming, tests must be conducted in open spaces to ensure that our data is transferring properly at the right speed with minimal noise and to observe any problems that may come with hopping data through too many nodes.

We currently have decided on using a wireless module designed by Synapse and picked an mbed chip designed by Nucleo which has arduino shielding. We are planning on taking these components to build a basic board to start in order to test the functions

To learn more about our project, contact one of us from the emails below:
 

Jeremy Griffin

jeremymg@uci.edu

Jake Canon

jcanon@uci.edu

Kelly Ngo

kellymn@uci.edu

Mengqi Wang

mengqw3@uci.edu