The Smart Hub

SMART Hub’s Adaptive Spectrum Technologies are Paving the Way for Future Connectivity 

Launched less than a year ago, Baylor University’s Spectrum Management with Adaptive and Reconfigurable Technology Hub (SMART Hub), a Department of Defense Spectrum Innovation Center, is making an impact in multifaceted spectrum research to meet national defense needs.  

Directed by Charles Baylis, Ph.D., professor of electrical and computer engineering in Baylor’s School of Engineering and Computer Science, SMART Hub organizes research efforts from 17 institutions to revolutionize the increasingly crowded communication spectrum used by U.S. Defense efforts and the population at large.  

The SMART Hub was made possible through a $5 million congressional appropriation championed by Congressman Pete Sessions and institutional support from Baylor University. 

“We are grateful to God for this incredible opportunity with SMART Hub and excited for the responsibility that will ultimately support our military in peacetime and war,” Baylis said. “We’re incredibly grateful to Congressman Sessions for his work to turn this partnership with the Department of Defense into a reality, and for believing in this approach of developing adaptive and reconfigurable wireless systems that are able to share spectrum in real-time. Many people at Baylor and our partner institutions have likewise contributed to these efforts in a profound way and have our heartfelt thanks.” 

SPECTRUM FOR COMMUNICATION 

While cell phones have become a normal part of communication, most people may not realize how cell phones rely on the spectrum for communication, along with a variety of other wireless methods. Baylis describes the spectrum as the “real estate” of wireless transmission. 

“When I send or receive a phone call, I have to use some type of bandwidth on the spectrum to transmit. It’s the same for anyone,” Baylis said. “Now, when you factor in the exponential increase in the number of wireless devices, you can imagine that the spectrum has become crowded to the point that there’s really no spectrum left.” 

Both military and corporate organizations recognize that dwindling space will soon impact their users. The need has led researchers to pursue entirely new approaches to spectrum communication, which is a focus of SMART Hub. 

“We are working on groundbreaking technology that will revolutionize how we use the spectrum,” Baylis said. “Rather than fixed systems that use the same frequency and stay there, we’re designing systems that can adapt to their surroundings and determine how to successfully transmit and receive. It’s a true paradigm shift that requires the type of collaboration we have in SMART Hub.” 

That shift requires new algorithms and hardware adjustments capable of responsive shifts from one band to another. This is a key SMART Hub focus: the development of groundbreaking advances to build and support adaptive and reconfigurable technologies for wireless communication, radar systems and passive sensing.  

MILITARY ADAPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES 

Reliable wireless communication is of critical importance to the Department of Defense as the military must be able to adapt and work around interference. Radars are a good example, Baylis said, as they are vitally important to detect threats. However, complications arise when cell phones are brought into the radar band. 

“You’ve got to have a solution to be able to sense threats despite the presence of these other wireless devices,” he said. “You need to be able to recognize interfering devices and shift your band of operation to avoid them. Our military needs new policies and technologies to make this possible.”  

The exponential growth in devices has jammed the bandwidth available to the point that the U.S. Armed Forces need new options. Their partnership with SMART Hub will pursue these new adaptive technologies for military use, with the likelihood of future benefits to civilian communication as well. 

“We are grateful for the opportunity to do our part to protect our men and women who are in harm’s way, and we want to do so without any compromise,” Baylis said. “Spectrum dominance is of extreme importance and that’s why these efforts are funded by Congress—it leads directly to success in the field and to the safety of our armed forces.” 

MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH 

To pursue revolutionary technological advancements, SMART Hub is comprised of a multidisciplinary team of 29 researchers at 17 institutions. 

“The SMART Hub team, led by Dr. Baylis, has labored for years to secure significant funding for this important project,” said Daniel Pack, Ph.D., dean of Baylor’s School of Engineering and Computer Science. “While Baylor has attracted new, highly regarded research faculty from other institutions, Dr. Baylis and SMART Hub is an example of continued growth in cutting-edge research by faculty who helped lay a strong foundation, not just in helping Baylor reach its research goals, but in truly impacting the United States and the world. That eight ECS researchers are involved with this center speaks volumes about the quality of our faculty and how fully ECS supports SMART Hub’s work.” 

Last July, SMART Hub completed its first meeting where initial research steps were established.   

“We’ve had a great interaction with our researchers, and their creativity and innovation are truly inspiring,” Baylis said. “We have coordinated our efforts and are prepared to go and make an immediate impact with our work. We have developed plans for innovation that will make a difference at the six-month and one-year marks of this project, and that is good news for our U.S. defense partners.”   

Austin Egbert, Ph.D., director of strategic initiatives for SMART Hub, is leading the coordination of the multidisciplinary research projects. 

“We have identified several near- and long-term research goals that will greatly improve our ability to operate in congested spectral environments,” Egbert said. “These types of developments would not be possible without the cross-pollination and collaboration of our fantastic researchers, and I’m looking forward to seeing the great improvements and breakthroughs they will achieve.” 

In addition to research project planning, a coordinated effort to host four undergraduate spectrum workshops across the country is planned for the summer of 2025. Tom Brooks, director of strategic initiatives for SMART Hub, will be coordinating this project, designed to develop interest in wireless spectrum issues among undergraduates around the country. Workshops will be held at SMART Hub institutions — Baylor, Colorado State University, New York Institute of Technology and Virginia Tech.     

“We tripled our attendance from Summer 2023 to Summer 2024 with our Spectrum Sizzle Workshop on Baylor’s campus,” said Brooks. “By strategically placing next summer’s workshops in four regions of the country (North, Southeast, West and South) we look to triple our attendance again. These one-week, on-campus workshops are more than great résumé builders for technological understanding and professional development. We give students valuable hands-on experience that they may not have at their home institutions.”   

With the planning from this meeting, SMART Hub members are excited about the next steps in these endeavors.  

“With God’s enablement and provision, we hope to provide and grow the intellectual resources to solve some of our nation’s biggest wireless spectrum problems,” Baylis said.