II-NEW: A Reconfigurable Multi-Cell Research Platform for Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Networks

由于智能手机和平板电脑的流行，移动数据使用量正在飙升。无线网络运营商正争先恐后地通过获取频谱和部署更多基站来增加容量。多输入多输出(MIMO)技术因其显著提高无线通信频谱效率的潜力而得到广泛认可。从理论上讲，MIMO的容量随着天线数量的增加而增加。由于移动设备受到外形尺寸的限制，大多数研究都集中在在基站上放置许多天线，激进的提议呼吁在基站上安装数百个天线。这样的努力在无线研究平台上产生了三个迫切的需求。首先，需要有许多天线的基站，以便灵活地使用天线，无论是用于通信还是实验测量。其次，需要一种网络研究平台，在该平台中可以对处理小区间干扰的新兴想法进行实验研究。最后，需要一个具有足够和分布式计算资源的网络研究平台，以解决实施先进MIMO技术的计算要求和系统挑战。该项目将开发ArgoNet，这是一个可重新配置的多细胞研究平台，将满足上述三个需求。ArgoNet不仅将允许在现实环境下对使用MIMO的尖端想法进行实验测试，而且还将通过现实世界的实验部署来进行教学。ArgoNet有三个完全可编程的关键组件：(I)可配置的基站数量，每个基站可以拥有多达数百个天线；(Ii)电池供电的移动终端；(Iii)与基站连接的服务器集群，具有高吞吐量、精确同步的回程。UHF和2.4/5 GHz将支持基站和终端之间的实时、宽带通信。基站将通过回程进行精确同步，并将协作全面支持切换和本地化等网络功能。ArgoNet将是数字和机械可重新配置的，默认配置为三个室外基站，每个基站有108个天线。它可以很容易地重新配置为拥有更少的基站，每个基站都有更多的天线，或者更多的基站，每个基站的天线更少。该研究平台将是部署在莱斯大学校园内的新基础设施。该项目将开发一个开放获取的资源库，包括ArgoNet？S多天线基站的完整硬件和软件设计，以及利用ArgoNet进行快速成型的实例和工具包，以便其他研究人员可以在自己的组织中构建类似的研究平台。

Mobile data usage is skyrocketing thanks to the popularity of smartphones and tablets. Wireless network carriers are scrambling to increase their capacity by acquiring spectrum and deploying more base stations. Multiple input, multiple output (MIMO) technologies have been widely recognized for their potential to significantly improve the spectral efficiency of wireless communication. In theory, the capacity of MIMO grows with the number of antennas. Because mobile devices are form factor-constrained, the majority of research has focused on placing many antennas on base stations, with aggressive proposals calling for hundreds of them. Such effort has created three pressing needs in wireless research platforms. First, there is a need for base stations with many antennas so that there is flexibility in how antennas are used, both for communication and experimental measurement. Second, there is a need for a network research platform in which emerging ideas that deal with inter-cell interference can be experimentally studied. Finally, there is a need for a network research platform with adequate and distributed computing resources to address the computational requirement and systems challenges of implementing advanced MIMO technologies. This project will develop ArgosNet, a reconfigurable multi-cell research platform that will meet the above three needs. ArgosNet will not only allow cutting-edge ideas for using MIMO to be experimentally tested under realistic settings, but also enable the teaching of them with a real-world experimental deployment. ArgosNet has three completely programmable key components: (i) a configurable number of base stations each of which can have up to several hundreds of antennas, (ii) battery-powered mobile terminals, (iii) a server cluster that are connected with the base stations with high-throughout, precisely synchronized backhaul. Real-time, wideband communication between base station and terminal will be supported for UHF and 2.4/5 GHz. Base stations will be precisely synchronized via the backhaul and will cooperate to fully support network functions such as handoff and localization. ArgosNet will be digitally and mechanically reconfigurable with a default configuration of three outdoor base stations each with 108 antennas. It can be easily reconfigured to have fewer base stations each with more antennas or more base stations each with fewer antennas. The research platform will be a new infrastructure deployed on the campus of Rice University. The project will develop an open-access repository with the complete hardware and software design for ArgosNet?s many-antenna base station, as well as examples and a toolkit for rapid prototyping with ArgosNet so that other researchers can build similar research platforms at their own organizations.