Collaborative Research: Architecture and Implementation of Intelligent Transceivers for Ultra-Wideband Communications

0424196Gharpure2002年2月，联邦通信委员会(FCC)修订了其第15部分的发射规则，允许商用超宽带(UWB)传输设备使用很大一部分射频(RF)频谱。对这些设备施加的限制包括从3.1 GHz到10.6 GHz的发射功率谱密度限制为-41 dBm/MHz，以及最小信号带宽为500 MHz。如此宽的带宽的可用性使得几种新的短距离、低功率、高比特率的通信、测距和定位应用成为可能。使用上述带宽的行业标准提案可提供非常出色的吞吐量性能。然而，由于上市时间是一个主要的限制，这些标准中的许多都使用了众所周知的基于载波的通信方法的变体。这一新的FCC政策首次允许公众使用如此大的频谱。因此，与基于载波的调制技术的传统窄带方法相比，它为无线通信领域的全新研究打开了机会，例如全新的信令方法和架构及其集成电路实现。智力优势：PI建议利用这个独特的机会研究用于UWB无线电应用的高效、集成电路收发机实现。他将探讨信令和系统级别以及架构和集成电路实现级别之间的权衡。他建议研究一种易于实现的数字多载波UWB信令格式，该格式有望缓解UWB通信的主要问题，即干扰和多径。他还计划研究一种低功率干扰检测器，该检测器可以在给定的频段内检测不需要的信号的存在。该探测器与其他收发信机共享干扰信息，并允许采用独特的智能干扰缓解策略。干扰检测策略可以很好地与所提出的信令格式相结合，具有最小的硬件成本或功率开销。这些创新是由我们在VLSI集成电路中高效实现收发器的拟议研究工作实现的。UWB的低射频输出功率水平为使用当前和未来的纳米CMOS技术以及利用它们提供的令人印象深刻的操作速度提供了可能性。他计划开发收发机的电路实现，包括宽带放大器、高线性度相关器和匹配滤波器、高速D/A和A/D转换器以及输出缓冲器等电路模块。广泛的影响：通信技术，更具体地说，无线通信技术在发展广泛可访问的网络基础设施方面发挥着突出的作用。超宽带无线电技术为应用开辟了令人振奋的新机会，而关于实现有效物理层的研究是实现应用的关键因素。对该问题的通信系统方面有深入了解的模拟、混合信号和射频集成电路设计人员的短缺一直是该领域发展的一个持续挑战。通过研究经验和课程，他的项目将教育具有跨学科技能的研究人员和电路设计师，在他们运行的系统的背景下发明新的集成电路设计原则。该项目涉及不同机构的PI合作。它利用了两家私人投资机构的行业专业知识和研究背景。它还为研究生和本科生提供了与更广泛的研究工作互动的独特机会。为了增加学生在这一新兴领域的教育机会，将开发新的课程。对于本科生，建议设立一个研究体验计划，提供专门设计的研究项目，以提供实践经验并扩展他们的专业知识。

0424196GharpureyIn February 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revised its Part 15 emission rules and allowed the use of a large section of the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum by commercial ultra-wideband (UWB) transmission devices. The restrictions imposed on these devices include a limit on the transmitted power spectral density of -41 dBm/MHz from 3.1 to 10.6 GHz and a minimum signal bandwidth of 500 MHz. The availability of such a wide bandwidth has enabled several new short-distance, low-power, high bit-rate applications for communication, ranging and location-finding. Industrial standards proposals for the use of the above bandwidth allow for very impressive throughput performance. However, since time-to-market is a major constraint, many of these standards use variants of well-known carrier-based communication methods.This new FCC policy allows the public use of such a large spectrum for the first time. Thus it opens opportunities for fundamentally new research in wireless communications in topics such as radically new signaling methods and architectures, and their integrated circuit realization, in contrast with the traditional narrow-band approach of carrier-based modulation techniques.Intellectual Merits: The PI proposes to use this unique opportunity to research highly efficient, integrated circuit implementations of transceivers for UWB radio applications. He will explore the trade-offs between the signaling and system level, and the architectural and integrated circuit implementation level. He proposes to investigate an implementation-friendly digital multi-carrier UWB signaling format that is expected to alleviate major issues with UWB communications, namely interference and multipath. He also plans to investigate a low-power interference detector which detects the presence of undesired signals in given frequency bands. The detector shares interference information with other transceivers and allows for a unique intelligent interference mitigation strategy. The interference detection strategy can be combined very well with the proposed signaling format, with minimal hardware cost or power overhead. These innovations are enabled by our proposed research efforts in the efficient implementation of transceivers in VLSI integrated circuits. The low RF output power-levels in UWB open the possibility to use current and future nanometer CMOS technologies and exploit the impressive operation speed they offer. He plans to develop a circuit implementation of the transceivers including such circuit blocks as broadband amplifiers, high linearity correlators and matched filters, high-speed D/A and A/D converters, and output buffers.Broader Impacts: Communication technologies and more specifically wireless communicationtechnologies play a prominent role in developing a broadly accessible cyber-infrastructure. UWB radio technology opens exciting new opportunities for applications and the proposed research on the realization of an efficient physical layer is crucial enabler towards applications.The shortage of analog, mixed-signal, and RF integrated circuit designers, with in-depth knowledge of the communication systems aspects of the problem, has been a continuous challenge for the advancement of this field. Through research experiences and courses, his program will educate researchers and circuit designers with the cross-disciplinary skills to invent new design principles for integrated circuits in the context of the system in which they operate.The program involves the collaboration of PIs at different institutions. It leverages the industrial expertise and research backgrounds of both PIs. It further offers unique opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students to interact with a broader research effort. To enhance the educational opportunities for students in this emerging field, new courses will be developed. For undergraduate students a research experience program is proposed that will offer research projects specifically designed to provide hands-on experience and extend their expertise.