NeTS: Large: Collaborative Research: Practical Foundations for Networking with Many-Antenna Base Stations

为了满足指数级增长的移动数据需求，仅为数据服务开辟更多频谱是不够的。无线产业和研究界正在不顾一切地寻找能够更有效地利用频谱的技术。无线网络的趋势是减小小区大小，同时每个设备尤其是每个基站的天线数量不断增加。从理论上讲，频谱使用效率与基站天线的数量成正比；大量的天线不仅可以大幅提高频谱效率，而且可以大大简化系统。然而，这些理论上的承诺如何在实践中转化为频谱效率的提高仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。事实上，简单地增加基站天线的数量将在许多地方打破今天的网络系统设计，跨越几个层面。该项目的目标是为多天线基站联网提供急需的实用基础。该项目不仅将探索将基站天线的数量扩大到10s甚至100s的新方法；而且还将重新考虑整个网络架构，利用随着基站天线数量的增加而产生的新特性。随着使用NSF CRI资助的ArgoNet试验床的可实现网络设计的重点，项目团队将与我们的企业合作伙伴密切合作，以确保项目成果影响下一代无线网络。该项目将建立一个独特的大学间教育和研究计划，将涉及本科生和代表性不足的人群。为了为多天线MIMO网络提供实用基础，该项目的目标将是在三个相关推力方面的创新。(I)可扩展的控制和协调：该项目将为多用户多输入多输出(MU-MIMO)网络开发可扩展的控制和协调功能设计。特别是，它将设计一套用于全网CSI收集的协议，从而显著降低其开销。(Ii)可伸缩的资源分配。该项目将为多天线MIMO网络开发新的资源分配解决方案，以支持高数据速率和低延迟要求。它将提供一种新颖的可扩展的调度框架，使用慢时间尺度信息或统计信道信息，并设计基于MIMO无码率编码的调度策略。(3)来自测量的经验基础。该项目将对MU-MIMO信道进行以前不可能的实时测量，以了解信道相关性、变异和互易性以及它们与频段、移动性和硬件损伤的关系。特别是，该项目将得出新的模型、互易性校准方法和新的信道状态表示法，这些将推动网络设计中的研究。

To meet the exponentially growing demand in mobile data, opening up more spectrum for data services is not enough. The wireless industry and research community are desperately searching for technologies that can use spectrum more efficiently. The trend in wireless networks is reducing cell sizes combined with increasing number of antennas per device and especially, per base station. In theory, the efficiency of spectrum use increases proportionally to the number of base-station antennas; a large number of antennas promises not only a large gain in spectral efficiency but also a much simplified system. However, it remains an open question how these theoretical promises can translate into spectral efficiency gains in practice. Indeed, simply increasing the number of base-station antennas will break today's network system designs at many places, across several layers. The goal of this project is to provide the much needed practical foundations for networking with many-antenna base stations. The project will not only explore novel approaches toward scaling up the number of base-station antennas to 10s and even 100s; but also rethink the entire network architecture exploiting the emergent properties as the number of base-station antennas grows large. With emphasis on realizable network designs using the NSF CRI-funded ArgosNet testbed, the project team will work closely with our corporate partners to ensure that project outcomes impact the next-generation of wireless networks. The project will establish a unique inter-university education and research program, that will involve both undergraduate students and underrepresented populations. Toward providing the practical foundations for many-antenna MIMO networks, the project goal will be innovations in three related thrusts. (i) Scalable Control and Coordination: the project will develop scalable designs of control and coordination functions for multi-user multi-input, multi-output (MU-MIMO) networks. In particular, it will design a suite of protocols for network-wide CSI collection that significantly reduce its overhead. (ii) Scalable Resource Allocation. The project will develop novel resource allocation solutions for many- antenna MIMO networks in order to support both high data rates and low-latency requirements. It will contribute a novel scalable scheduling framework that use slow-time-scale information or statistical channel information and design scheduling policies based on MIMO rateless codes. (iii) Empirical Foundations from Measurements. The project will perform previously impossible real-time measurements of MU-MIMO channels in order to understand channel correlation, variation and reciprocity and their relationships with spectrum band, mobility, and hardware impairment. In particular, the project will derive novel models, reciprocity calibration methods, and novel channel state representations that will power research in network designs.