RINGS: Massive Extended-Array Transceivers for Robust Scaling of All-Digital mmWave MIMO

RINGS：大规模扩展阵列收发器，用于全数字毫米波 MIMO 的稳健扩展

• 批准号: 2148303
• 负责人: Upamanyu Madhow
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Barbara
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-05-01 至 2025-04-30
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2148303&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RINGS; Massive; Extended; Array; Transceivers

As the demand for high-speed wireless data keeps growing, it is essential to access the vast amounts of spectrum available in “millimeter wave (mmWave)” frequency bands, which are orders of magnitude higher than the frequency bands used in WiFi and cellular systems today. There has been substantial recent progress demonstrating feasibility of radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) built with low-cost silicon semiconductor processes, for lower mmWave frequency bands such as 28 GHz licensed spectrum (for 5G cellular), and 60 GHz unlicensed spectrum (for next-generation WiFi). This project aims to provide a quantum leap beyond these efforts, developing strategically important and commercially viable technologies for opening up upper mmWave bands beyond 100 GHz. A specific goal is to develop antenna arrays with thousands of elements, capable of forming agile pencil beams tracking mobile devices, which can be miniaturized into compact form factors because of the tiny wavelengths at 100+ GHz. The project investigates novel approaches for co-design of hardware and algorithms for scaling array sizes, targeting significant jumps in attainable link distances and data rates (10 Gbps per mobile user in an urban cell, and 100 Gbps for a fixed wireless alternative to fiber).Millimeter wave (mmWave) communication will play a crucial role in next-generation communication infrastructures. A fundamental bottleneck in mmWave hardware development is packaging: “fitting” the RFIC electronics becomes difficult at small carrier wavelengths due to the standard constraint of half-wavelength spacing between antennas. This project investigates novel hardware architectures that sidestep such packaging bottlenecks to realize massive extended arrays, along with closely coupled innovations in all-digital hierarchical signal processing architectures, targeting quantum leaps in capacity and resilience. Hardware research includes development of extremely low-cost 140GHz transceiver modular array tile technologies that readily scale to arrays having vast numbers of elements. Signal processing and systems research develops all-digital hierarchical signal processing architectures matched to the tiled hardware architecture, illustrating the system-level impact of the robustness and additional spatial degrees of freedom provided by extended arrays in canonical multiuser (MU) MIMO and Line of Sight (LoS) MIMO settings aimed at flexible, cost-effective deployment of access and backhaul nodes. A key design concept is spatial redundancy: by choosing hardware and system parameters such that the number of array RF channels greatly exceeds the number of MIMO signals involved, it becomes possible to simplify power consumption and die area by sacrificing dynamic range.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

随着对高速无线数据的需求不断增长，必须访问“毫米波（mmwave）”频带中可用的大量频谱，这些频段比当今WiFi和蜂窝系统中使用的频段高的数量级。最近的进展取得了很大的进展，证明了射频集成电路（RFIC）（RFICS）是使用低成本硅半导体工艺构建的，用于较低的MMWAVE频带，例如28 GHz许可光谱（用于5G蜂窝）和60 GHz无限制的频谱（用于下一代WiFi）。该项目旨在提供超越这些努力的量子飞跃，开发具有战略意义且在商业上可行的技术，以开放100 GHz以上的上层MMWAVE乐队。一个具体的目标是开发具有数千个元素的天线阵列，能够形成敏捷的铅笔梁跟踪移动设备，因为在100+ GHz处的微小波长，可以将其小型化为紧凑的形式。该项目研究了用于缩放阵列大小的硬件和算法共同设计的新颖方法，针对可达到的链路距离和数据速率的显着跳跃（城市单元中的每个移动用户10 Gbps和100 GBP的固定无线替代品的100 GBP）。MMILIMeterWave（MMWave）的通信将在下一步的沟通中发挥作用。 MMWave硬件开发中的基本瓶颈是包装：由于天线之间的半波长间距的标准约束，在小型载波波长下，RFIC电子设备变得困难。该项目调查了新型的硬件体系结构，这些架构避开了这种包装瓶颈，以实现大量的扩展阵列，并在全数字层次层次的信号处理体系结构中进行了紧密耦合的创新，靶向量子的能力和弹性。硬件研究包括开发极低的140GHz收发器模块化阵列瓷砖技术，这些技术很容易扩展到具有大量元素的阵列。信号处理和系统研究开发与瓷砖硬件体系结构相匹配的全数字层次信号处理架构，说明了稳健性的系统级别的影响以及在Canonical Multiuser（MU）MIMO（MU）MIMO（MU）MIMO和视觉（LOS）MIMO（LOS）MIMO设置的MIMO设置的范围内的延长阵列提供的其他空间自由度的访问，并以柔和的方式进行了效果。一个关键的设计概念是空间冗余：通过选择硬件和系统参数，使阵列RF通道的数量大大超过了所涉及的MIMO信号的数量，可以通过牺牲动态范围来简化功耗和死亡区域。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过评估基金会的MERITAIL和BRODITIAL和BRODITAIL and INTECTIAL和BRODITAIL INTICERIAL和BRODITAIL INTICAL INTICAL INTICAL和BRODITAIL INTICAIL INTICAIL和BRODITAIL INTICAIL INTICAIL效果。