PLATON (click here for a picture of the equipment) Overview
PLATON was our first truly integrated platform, although we made some intermediate developments that led up to it (the learning curve was steep.) PLATON is comprised of an RF and data conversion unit, which was co-designed with Philips Semiconductors (now NXP) in Sophia Antipolis, and a PCI-bus data acquisition unit. PLATON was designed to allow for a full software-radio implementation, in the sense that all protocol layers (PHY/MAC/IP) run on the host PCs under the control of a RTOS (RTAI - www.rtai.org). At the very beginning, we provided our development under RTLinux, but the creators of that RTOS left the world of open-source software for more fruitful horizons ... PLATON was created in the context of the French RNRT project of the same name, which stood for PLATeforme Ouverte pour une Nouvelle generation de communications mobiles, and was the target hardware of the wireless3g4free UMTS-TDD platform. Several PLATON radio and data acquisition cards can be mutually synchronized to form a multiple-antenna (MIMO) system. PLATON (on right) and its PCI-bus data acquisition unit
Today OpenAirInterface can run on PLATON, although to be completely precise, we only use it for 4-antenna OFDMA transmission. The receivers have not been used for OpenAirInterface. TDD two-way operation with UTRA-TDD waveforms was done with PLATON during the wireless3g4free years.
PLATON card in its box for demonstration Documents Impact and dissemination
30 PLATON platforms were fabricated in the context of various publicly-funded French National, European and Regional projects. The project partners that acquired the PLATON hardware in order to perform experiments are: France Telecom R+D (now OrangeLabs) Grenoble and Issy-les-Moulineaux University of Stuttgart Communications Research Center, Ottawa, Canada INRIA Sophia Antipolis
It was an important part of the following projects: PLATON (2001-2003) ERMITAGES (2001-2003) RHODOS (2004-2006) MOBYDICK (2002-2004) DAIDALOS (2004-2006) E2R (2004-2006) COSINUS (2006-2008) SFR-MIMO (2006-2007)
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