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.

提案编号1546604：EAGER：一种新的系统架构，用于解决宽带高维天线阵列无线通信中基本的波束斜视问题无线技术正准备进行彻底的变革。 在厘米波 (10-30GHz) 和毫米波 (30-300GHz) 频率下运行的新系统是当前研究的重点，以满足爆炸式增长的无线数据流量需求。有两个因素使如此高的频率具有吸引力：i）可用频谱的数量级更大，ii）小波长支持的高维天线阵列。由此产生的大量自由度可用于许多关键功能，包括使用窄高增益波束进行高度定向通信，以及通过多个波束向多个用户同时进行宽带传输来实现频谱的空间复用。 然而，波束成形前端的硬件复杂性和后端数字处理的计算复杂性对当前的“数字”范式提出了挑战，需要重新审视高维模拟数字接口的设计。在新兴的毫米波和厘米波系统中，对性能的影响不能再被忽视的一个基本问题是众所周知的“光束斜视”问题——光束方向随频率而变化。传统的解决方案过于复杂，无法在实践中实现。这个为期两年的 EAGER 项目的目标是提供新的多波束系统架构的概念验证，与传统设计相比，该架构有望提供近乎最佳的性能，同时显着降低复杂性。 该项目将为处于无线通信前沿的研究生和本科生提供宝贵的研究和培训机会，包括基础理论和基于原型的实验。新架构已申请专利，预计将在厘米波和毫米波应用的新兴宽带多天线技术的构思和开发中发挥重要作用。该技术还可能影响雷达应用。拟议的研究利用了通信理论、信号处理、优化、谐波分析、天线设计和传播物理学的工具。它是由有希望的初步结果推动的，从新的角度重新审视光束斜视问题，量化其对性能的重大影响，并提出新的多光束系统架构来有效处理它。 PI 首创的波束空间理论为设计和分析采用多天线阵列的多输入多输出 (MIMO) 无线系统提供了新的视角。目前正在实施一项综合理论实验研究计划，其总体目标有两个：i) 开发新系统架构的基础理论，以及 ii) 使用 10GHz 原型进行概念验证。基础理论的发展将表征所有点对点系统配置中的新型多波束 (MB) MIMO 收发器。它将能够更全面地量化所提出的宽带 MB-MIMO 收发器相对于传统相控阵系统的性能增益，以及它们提供的性能与复杂性的权衡。概念验证演示将使用带有透镜天线的原型来进行模拟波束成形。该项目的结果将为新的 MB-MIMO 架构提供明确的概念验证，用于宽带高维 MIMO 系统中的性能复杂性优化，在该系统中波束斜视是一个重要问题。该项目的研究结果预计将引发无线通信和宽带高维阵列传感这一关键新兴领域的新研究。