= About the WARP Project =
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The Wireless Open-Access Research Platform (WARP) is a scalable and extensible programmable wireless platform, built from the ground up to prototype advanced wireless networks. WARP combines high-performance programmable hardware with an open-source repository of reference designs and support materials.
The WARP Project was founded in 2006 by Prof. [http://www.ece.rice.edu/~ashu/ Ashu Sabharwal] at [http://www.rice.edu/ Rice University]. The project was originally funded by the [http://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0551692 National Science Foundation] with ongoing support from [http://xilinx.com/ Xilinx].
In the first 5 years of the project the Rice WARP team:
* Designed the first two generations of WARP hardware
* [wiki:HardwareUsersGuides/FPGABoard_v1.2 FPGA Board v1] and [wiki:HardwareUsersGuides/FPGABoard_v2.2 v2]
* [wiki:HardwareUsersGuides/RadioBoard_v1.4 Radio Board v1]
* [wiki:HardwareUsersGuides/ClockBoard_v1.1 Clock Board]
* [wiki:HardwareUsersGuides/AnalogBoard_v1.1 Analog Board]
* Created the [wiki:WARPLab WARPLab] and [wiki:OFDMReferenceDesign OFDM Reference Designs]
* Conducted [wiki:Workshops 11 WARP Workshops] at Rice and universities around the world
* Used WARP for many cutting-edge research projects, including [wiki:ITW2009Beamforming beamforming], cooperative [wiki:CoopPHYPaper PHY] and [wiki:CoopEnergyCons MAC] design and [wiki:DesignFDWiFi full-duplex wireless] (see [wiki:PapersandPresentations#Rice full list])
The project has since grown into a self-sustaining open-source effort with users around the world. [http://mangocomm.com Mango Communications] spun off from the Rice WARP Project in 2008 with the initial goal of manufacturing and distributing the Rice WARP hardware. In 2012 Mango released the entirely re-designed [http://mangocomm.com/products/kits/warp-v3-kit WARP v3] hardware. Today Mango engineers are the most active contributors to the [// WARP repository] and [//forums forums], providing ongoing development and support of open-source WARP designs, including [wiki:WARPLab WARPLab 7] and the [wiki:802.11 802.11 Reference Design].
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== Research Impact ==
WARP has been adopted by hundreds of researchers worldwide. The platform has been used for cutting-edge research on a wide of topics, including full-duplex wireless, cooperative communications, localization and multi-user MIMO. The pace of adoption continues to accelerate.
We have highlighted a number of [wiki:Projects projects enabled by WARP]. If you have a project we should add to this list, please email us (info[at]warpproject.org).
Please visit the [wiki:PapersandPresentations list of papers published by WARP users], and Google Scholar's [http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&q=%22warp.rice.edu%22+OR+%22wireless+open+access+research%22+OR+%22warp+platform%22 list of papers citing WARP].
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== Education Impact ==
Many students learning digital communication never get to see a real wireless link in a lab. Many courses only address the theory of baseband processing or higher layer protocol design. WARP has proven an excellent means to fill this gap for undergraduate and graduate education labs. The open-source [wiki:WARPLab WARPLab] and [wiki:OFDMReferenceDesign OFDM/CSMA] Reference Designs are ideal starting points for introducing students to real-world physical layer processing and protocol development.
A number of universities have already adopted WARP for use in their courses, including:
* [wiki:Projects/Rice_CommLabCourse Rice University ELEC 433]: Digital Communications Lab
* [wiki:Projects/SMU_EE8391 Southern Methodist University EE8391]: Embedded Wireless Protocol Design Lab
* [http://www.ece.drexel.edu/courses/ECE-T512 Drexel University ECET-512]: Wireless Systems
== More Information ==
To learn more about the project, please visit [//trac the WARP Repository] or email the project developers at info[at]warpproject.org.