Communications Theory Perspectives on the Design of Compact Multi-Antenna Wireless Transceivers

最近对多输入多输出(MIMO)通信的研究表明，在发射端和接收端部署阵列可以显著提高无线多径信道的容量。由于收发信机的物理尺寸通常是有限的，增加阵列单元的数量通常需要更紧密的单元间间隔，并导致信号相关和相互耦合。耦合会对接收功率、分集和系统容量产生深远的影响。此外，这种影响主要取决于收发信机设计的各个方面，如天线匹配和主要噪声源。智能优点：这个项目寻求开发一个系统级别的观点来设计用于无线通信的紧凑型阵列收发机。其目的是了解天线、匹配网络、放大器和通信算法如何相互作用以确定总体性能，并共同优化这些相互作用的子系统的设计。讨论了三个问题：(1)窄带和宽带信道中包含不同噪声源、收发机设计和来自其他用户的干扰的信道模型；(2)不同噪声源和传播环境对耦合MIMO系统的基本性能限制以及特定分集和复用技术性能的影响；(3)联合优化阵列、匹配、放大器和通信算法的信息论设计准则。更广泛的影响：这个多学科项目将理论研究与使用天线试验台的实验相结合。理论和硬件演示的混合将为学生提供各级参与的机会。这项工作通过为射频前端提供更统一的视图，并通过开发可能显著提高无线性能的新模型、通信算法和匹配技术，具有显著推动科学和工程发展的潜力。

Recent research on multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communications has shown that deploying arrays at the transmitter and receiver can dramatically improve the capacity of wireless multipath channels. Since the physical size of a transceiver is often limited, increasing the number of array elements often requires closer inter-element spacing and leads to signal correlation and mutual coupling. Coupling can profoundly impact the received power, diversity and system capacity. Moreover, this impact depends essentially on aspects of the transceiver design, such as antenna matching and the dominant sources of noise. Intellectual Merit: This project seeks to develop a systems-level perspective on the design of compact array transceivers for wireless communications. The aim is to understand how antennas, matching networks, amplifiers and communications algorithms interact to determine overall performance, and to jointly optimize the design of these interacting subsystems. Three issues are addressed: (1) channel models which incorporate diverse noise sources, transceiver design and interference from other users for both narrowband and broadband channels; (2) the impact of different noise sources and propagation environments on the fundamental performance limits of coupled MIMO systems, as well as on performance of specific diversity and multiplexing techniques; (3) information-theoretic design criteria to jointly optimize the array, matching, amplifiers and communications algorithms. Broader Impacts: This multi-disciplinary project combines theoretical studies with experiments using an antenna testbed. The mix of theory and hardware demonstrations will provide opportunities for student participation at all levels. This work has the potential to significantly advance science and engineering by providing a more unified view of the RF front end and by developing new models, communications algorithms and matching techniques which may significantly improve wireless performance.