EAGER: Proof-of-Concept of a New MIMO Transceiver for Addressing Beam Squint in Wideband High-Dimensional Arrays

EAGER：用于解决宽带高维阵列中波束斜视问题的新型 MIMO 收发器的概念验证

• 批准号: 1548996
• 负责人: Parameswaran Ramanathan
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2019-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1548996&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: EAGER; Proof; Concept; New; MIMO

Proposal no. 1546604: EAGER: A New System Architecture for Addressing the Fundamental Beam-Squint Problem in Wireless Communication with Wideband High-Dimensional Antenna Arrays Wireless technology is poised for a radical transformation. New systems operating at centimeter-wave (10-30GHz) and millimeter-wave (30-300GHz) frequencies are the focus of intense current research to meet the exploding wireless data traffic demands. Two factors make such high frequencies attractive: i) order-of-magnitude larger chunks of available spectrum, and ii) high-dimensional antenna arrays enabled by the small wavelengths. The resulting large number of degree of freedom can be exploited for a number of critical capabilities, including highly directional communication with narrow high-gain beams, and spatial reuse of the spectrum by simultaneous wideband transmissions to multiple users through multiple beams. However, the hardware complexity of the beamforming front-end and the computational complexity of the back-end digital processing challenge the current "digital" paradigm and require a fresh look at the design of the high-dimensional analog-digital interface. One fundamental problem whose impact on performance can no longer be ignored in emerging mmW and cmW systems is the well-known ``beam-squint'' problem - the beam direction changes as a function of frequency. Traditional solutions are far too complex to be realized in practice. The objective of this two-year EAGER project is to provide proof-of-concept of a new multi-beam system architecture that promises to deliver near-optimal performance with dramatically reduced complexity compared to conventional designs. The project will provide an invaluable research and training opportunity for graduate and undergraduate students at the cutting edge of wireless communications, including basic theory and prototype-based experimentation. A patent has been filed on the new architecture and it is expected to play an important role in the conception and development of emerging wideband multi-antenna technology for cmW and mmW applications. The technology could also impact radar applications.The proposed research draws on tools from communication theory, signal processing, optimization, harmonic analysis, antenna design, and physics of propagation. It is prompted by promising initial results that revisit the beam-squint problem from a new perspective, quantify its significant impact on performance, and suggest the new multi-beam system architecture for effectively dealing with it. The new perspective is offered by a beamspace theory, pioneered by the PI, for the design and analysis of multiple input multiple output (MIMO) wireless systems that employ multi-antenna arrays. An integrated theoretical-experimental research plan is being pursued with two overall objectives: i) development of basic theory for the new system architecture, and ii) proof-of-concept validation using a prototype at 10GHz. The development of basic theory will characterize the new multi-beam (MB) MIMO transceivers in all point-to-point system configurations. It will enable a more complete quantification of the performance gains of the proposed wideband MB-MIMO transceivers relative to conventional phased array-based systems, as well as the performance-complexity tradeoffs offered by them. The proof-of-concept demonstration will use a prototype with a lens antenna for analog beamforming. The results of this project will provide a definitive proof-of-concept of the new MB-MIMO architecture for performance-complexity optimization in wideband high-dimensional MIMO systems in which beam-squint is a significant problem. The findings of this project are expected to lead to new research in the critical emerging area of wireless communication and sensing with wideband high-dimensional arrays.

提案号。 1546604：急切：一种新的系统体系结构，用于解决与宽带高维天线阵列无线无线阵列无线技术无线技术的基本梁键问题，这是为根本转换提供的。 以厘米波（10-30GHz）和毫米波（30-300GHz）频率运行的新系统是当前强烈研究的重点，以满足爆炸的无线数据流量需求。有两个因素使高频吸引人：i）可用频谱的大块较大块，ii）小波长启用了高维天线阵列。可以利用所得的大量自由度来利用许多关键功能，包括与狭窄的高增生光束的高度方向通信，以及通过通过多个光束向多个用户同时向多个用户进行宽带传输来对光谱进行空间重复使用。 但是，光束成形前端的硬件复杂性以及后端数字处理的计算复杂性挑战了当前的“数字”范式，并需要仔细研究高维模拟数字界面的设计。在新兴MMW和CMW系统中不再忽略对性能的一个基本问题是众所周知的``Beam-squint''问题 - 梁方向随频率的函数而变化。传统解决方案太复杂了，无法在实践中实现。这个为期两年的急切项目的目的是提供新的多光束系统体系结构的概念验证，该架构有望与常规设计相比，具有近乎最佳的性能，并大大降低了复杂性。 该项目将为无线通信的最前沿的研究生和本科生提供宝贵的研究和培训机会，包括基本理论和基于原型的实验。已对新体系结构提出了专利，预计将在新兴的CMW和MMW应用程序的新兴宽带多翼技术的构想和开发中发挥重要作用。该技术也可能影响雷达应用。拟议的研究借鉴了通信理论，信号处理，优化，谐波分析，天线设计和传播物理学的工具。这是通过有希望的初始结果来提示的，从新的角度来重新审视光束键问题，量化其对性能的重大影响，并建议新的多光束系统体系结构有效地处理它。新的透视图由PI率先提供的Beamspace理论提供，用于设计和分析使用多个Antenna阵列的多个输入多重输出（MIMO）无线系统。一个总体目标正在实现一个综合的理论实验研究计划：i）开发新系统体系结构的基本理论，ii）使用10GHz原型的概念验证验证。基本理论的发展将表征所有点对点系统配置中新的多光束（MB）MIMO收发器。它将对拟议的宽带MB-MIMO收发器的性能提高进行更完整的量化，相对于传统的基于分阶段的阵列系统以及它们提供的性能复杂性权衡。概念验证演示将使用带有透镜天线的原型进行模拟光束形成。该项目的结果将为新的MB-MIMO架构提供明确的概念，以在宽带高维MIMO系统中进行性能复杂性优化，其中Beam-Squint是一个重要的问题。该项目的发现有望在无线通信的关键新兴领域进行新的研究，并通过宽带高维数组感测。