NSF-IITP: START6G -- Sub-THz Augmented Routing and Transmission for 6G

NSF-IITP：START6G——6G 亚太赫兹增强路由和传输

• 批准号: 2153698
• 负责人: Robert Heath
• 金额: $ 38万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2153698&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; IITP; START6G; Sub; THz

Terabit-per-second data rates will enable next-generation wireless cellular applications, including extended reality, holography, haptic feedback, and wireless cognition. These applications provide, in part, the means to create an immersive experience for work, education, and healthcare which helps to bridge the gap in experience between in-person interaction and video telephony. Achieving the high data rates, though, requires going to higher radio frequency bands than are currently used for cellular communications. In the last five years, cellular communication has embraced the lower millimeter wave spectrum, which refers to radio frequencies from about 25 GHz to 100 GHz. Indeed, millimeter wave communication has become one of the defining features of fifth generation cellular communication systems. Going to terabit-per-second data rates will require higher bandwidths that are available above 100 GHz, in what is known as the sub-THz band. This collaborative project establishes fundamentals that will help realize sub-THz communication and drive the future of wireless technology. It develops new hardware and algorithms that help to create the required high data rate communication links to serve the applications highlighted above. For example, it develops technology that helps sub-THz communication signals better go around obstacles, by instrumenting the environment with smart reflective surfaces and reconfigurable antenna arrays. The results of the project will contribute to the development of new wireless technologies that are beneficial for personal communication, safety applications and industrial deployments. Industry impact and technology transfer will occur through frequent communication with the partners of the sixth generation North Carolina program. The project will lead to more undergraduate and graduate students with expertise on new and important technologies for wireless communications.Sub-THz Augmented Routing and Transmission for 6G is a collaboration among experts in wireless communications at North Carolina State University (NC State) and Yonsei University (YSU). It addresses the design of reflective surfaces and reconfigurable arrays for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication at sub-THz frequencies. It devises methods for configuring the beams formed or reflected from those arrays in a way that routes around obstacles. It creates algorithms that exploit new levels of reconfigurability in the arrays to obtain higher throughput and more robust communications. Finally, it results in the creation of joint real-time hardware (H/W) and software (S/W) testbeds for sub-THz communications. The uniqueness of this project lies in the multi-domain approach for improving sub-THz communications. The intellectual merit will occur in several directions. (a) Intelligent reflective surfaces constructed from state-of-the-art meta-materials / meta-devices. (b) Reconfigurable antenna arrays with adaptable structures that are mechanically and electrically controlled. (c) Directional-beam-based initial access and beam routing algorithms that leverage channel map information. (d) Models of reconfigurable antennas arrays and performance limits of those arrays. (e) Algorithms that leverage true time delays to reconfigure those arrays to support high bandwidths. (f) A suite of evaluation scenarios that test the developed hardware and algorithms. The immediate impact will be to identify the most relevant approaches for enabling large arrays for communication and reflective applications, as well as algorithms that leverage those arrays to enhance communication at sub-THz frequencies. The long-term impact will be in the development and realization of sub-THz communication as part of 6G wireless communications.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.

每秒数据速率将实现下一代无线蜂窝应用程序，包括扩展现实，全息，触觉反馈和无线认知。这些应用程序在某种程度上提供了为工作，教育和医疗保健创造沉浸式体验的手段，这有助于弥合面对面互动和视频电话之间的经验差距。但是，达到高数据速率需要比目前用于蜂窝通信的射频频段更高。在过去的五年中，蜂窝通信采用了下部毫米波谱，它是指大约25 GHz至100 GHz的无线电频率。实际上，毫米波通信已成为第五代蜂窝通信系统的决定性特征之一。每秒数据速率都需要更高的带宽，在所谓的Sub-Thz频段中，该带宽可用。这个协作项目建立了基本面，将有助于实现Sub-Thz沟通并推动无线技术的未来。它开发了新的硬件和算法，以帮助创建所需的高数据速率通信链接，以服务上面突出显示的应用程序。例如，它开发技术，通过用智能反射表面和可重新配置的天线阵列来启动环境，从而帮助Sub-Thz通信信号更好地解决障碍。该项目的结果将有助于开发新的无线技术，这些技术有益于个人交流，安全应用和工业部署。行业影响力和技术转移将通过与第六代北卡罗来纳州计划的合作伙伴进行频繁沟通。该项目将导致更多的本科和研究生在无线通信方面具有专业知识。SUB-THZ增强路由和6G的传播是北卡罗来纳州立大学（NC州立大学）和YSESEI University（YSU）的无线通信专家之间的合作。它解决了反射表面的设计和可重新配置的阵列，用于在Sub-Thz频率下进行多输入多输出（MIMO）通信。它设计了以围绕障碍物路由的方式配置从这些数组形成或反射的梁的方法。它创建的算法可以利用数组中的新级别可重构性级别，以获得更高的吞吐量和更强大的通信。最后，它导致创建了Sub-Thz通信的联合实时硬件（H/W）和软件（S/W）测试床。该项目的独特性在于用于改善Sub-Thz通信的多域方法。智力优点将出现在多个方向上。 （a）由最先进的元材料 /元设备构建的智能反射表面。 （b）具有机械和电控制的适应性结构的可重新配置天线阵列。 （c）利用通道图信息的基于方向梁的初始访问和梁路由算法。 （d）可重构天线阵列的模型和这些数组的性能限制。 （e）利用真实时间延迟来重新配置这些数组以支持高带宽的算法。 （f）测试开发的硬件和算法的一系列评估场景。直接的影响是确定启用大型阵列进行通信和反思应用程序的最相关方法，以及利用这些阵列来增强Sub-Thz频率的通信的算法。作为6G无线通信的一部分，长期影响将在Sub-Thz通信的发展和实现中。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估标准来通过评估来获得支持的。

项目成果

A Wideband Generalization of the Near-Field Region for Extremely Large Phased-Arrays

• DOI: 10.1109/lwc.2022.3233011
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters
• 影响因子: 6.3
• 作者: N. Deshpande;Miguel R. Castellanos;Saeed R. Khosravirad;Jinfeng Du;H. Viswanathan;R. Heath

Multi-User Downlink Beamforming Using Uplink Downlink Duality With 1-Bit Converters for Flat Fading Channels

• DOI: 10.1109/tvt.2022.3196603
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
• 影响因子: 6.8
• 作者: K. Mazher;A. Mezghani;R. Heath

Achievable Rate of a SISO System Under Wideband Matching Network Constraints

宽带匹配网络约束下 SISO 系统的可实现速率

• DOI: 10.1109/globecom54140.2023.10437975
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE
• 作者: Deshpande, Nitish Vikas;Castellanos, Miguel R.;Khosravirad, Saeed R.;Du, Jinfeng;Viswanathan, Harish;Heath, Robert W.
• 通讯作者: Heath, Robert W.

Dynamic Metasurface Antennas for Energy-Efficient MISO Communications

用于节能 MISO 通信的动态超表面天线

• DOI: 10.1109/globecom54140.2023.10436779
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE
• 作者: Carlson, Joseph;Castellanos, Miguel R.;Heath, Robert W.
• 通讯作者: Heath, Robert W.

Joint Relay Selection and Beam Management Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning for Millimeter Wave Vehicular Communication

• DOI: 10.1109/tvt.2023.3274763
• 发表时间: 2022-12
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
• 影响因子: 6.8
• 作者: Dohyun Kim;Miguel R. Castellanos;R. Heath