Collaborative Research: Radio Frequency Interference Aware Radio Astronomy Systems

加强无线电频谱接入（enhanced Access to Radio Spectrum）计划是根据2010年《关于启动无线宽带革命的总统备忘录》设立的，该备忘录是国会授权的国家宽带计划的一部分。它在2010年国情咨文和后来的2012年中产阶级税收减免和创造就业法案（超过三分之一的法案涉及无线电频谱），PCAST 2012年报告[总统科学技术顾问委员会]（呼吁大幅增加频谱共享的使用）和2013年总统备忘录（扩大美国在无线创新方面的领导地位）中被引用。该项目的目的是确定大胆的新概念，这些概念有可能有助于显著提高无线电频谱利用效率，保护无源传感服务，并使传统上服务不足的美国人从当前和未来的无线产品和服务中受益。这对国家经济的影响很大，正如2015年初FCC以超过450亿美元的价格竞标65MHz频谱所看到的那样。它将使科学、工程、工业、民用和军事用户能够使用射频（RF）频谱。无线通信系统的惊人增长导致对频谱的需求不断增加，以支持商业服务，特别是在3千兆赫以下的频率，在这种频率下，智能手机和平板电脑等电池供电的移动设备运行效率最高。期望这种装置可用于各种应用，并可用于具有不同可用频谱的各种位置。目前，这是通过一系列硬件解决方案实现的，例如在智能手机中，每种标准都有一个硬件解决方案。这是复杂和昂贵的，这样的接收器将不能充分适应未来的频谱使用。希望有一个单一的硬件解决方案，它能够接收广谱，然后根据本地频谱条件和应用从中选择特定的传输。像这样的适应性解决方案目前并不存在，这在很大程度上是由于当期望的信号很弱并且被包含高功率信号的信道拥挤时发生的干扰。有一些高动态范围的接收器可以承受如此不同的信号电平，但它们不能适应大带宽。在本项目中，将探索一种新的高动态范围接收器拓扑，该拓扑有望实现宽瞬时带宽的接收。该拓扑是由新的信号处理概念和集成电路技术实现的。所进行的研究将从基础理论到实验论证。减少无线电频率干扰（RFI）的影响，例如蜂窝、无线电、电视、卫星和雷达信号，以及微波炉的干扰，对射电天文发现的未来至关重要。在研究天体无线电信号时，科学家们对神秘的干扰感到困惑是很常见的。为了避免RFI，射电天文学家选择了人口稀少的地区来设置他们的望远镜。在某些情况下，必须在射电望远镜周围建立安静区，以限制无线电设备的使用。因此，在日益具有挑战性的RFI环境中，RFI缓解技术是射电天文学所需要的关键组成部分。该项目汇集了射电天文学、统计阵列信号处理、无线电频率仪器、数字信号处理、无线通信和软件定义无线电方面的研究人员，通过引入一种新的框架，为复杂RFI环境下的建模、分析和操作射电望远镜阵列提供必要的分析工具，来解决这些挑战，并促进射电天文学科学的发展。减轻射电天文学中的RFI是一个跨学科的研究领域，它结合了来自各个领域的科学家的努力，包括电气工程、物理学、天文学、计算机科学和天体物理学。德克萨斯大学达拉斯分校（UTD）和德克萨斯大学里约热内卢格兰德谷分校（UTRGV）高级射电天文学中心（CARA）研究人员联合团队开发RFI缓解技术所创造的机会将直接影响参加STEM职业的学生数量。这个项目的成功将对商界和科学界都有好处。最近，CARA与轨道运载火箭领先的商业制造商SpaceX合作，创建了太空飞船跟踪和天文研究到千兆赫天体物理瞬态发射（STARGATE），一个空间技术创新中心，结合了高等教育，研究，经济发展和商业化。STARGATE的技术/商业孵化器与达拉斯电信走廊之间的未来联系将为技术转让和更好地规划频谱使用开辟新的机会。

This EARS (Enhancing Access to the Radio Spectrum) program was founded in response to the 2010 Presidential Memorandum on Unleashing the Wireless Broadband Revolution mandated by Congress as part of the National Broadband Plan. It was referenced in 2010 State of the Union and later on the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (More than 1/3 of the bill deals with radio spectrum), the PCAST 2012 Report [President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology] (which calls for vastly increased use of spectrum sharing) and the 2013 Presidential memo (Expanding America's Leadership in Wireless Innovation). The aim of this program is to identify bold new concepts with the potential to contribute to significant improvements in the efficiency of radio spectrum utilization, protection of passive sensing services, and in the ability for traditionally underserved Americans to benefit from current and future wireless-enabled goods and services. The impact is large on the economics of the Nation as seen on the last FCC bidding of 65MHz of the spectrum for over $45 billion early in 2015. It will enable access to science, engineering, industry, civilian and military users of the radio frequency (RF) spectrum.The staggering growth of wireless communications systems has led to an increasing demand for spectrum to support commercial services, particularly in the frequencies below 3 GHz, where battery-powered mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets operate most efficiently. It is desirable for such devices to be useful for a variety of applications, and in a variety of locations that have differing available spectrum. Currently this is achieved, in a smart phone for example, by a collection of hardware solutions, with one for each standard. This is complex and expensive, and such receivers will not be sufficiently adaptable for future spectrum usage. It is desirable to have a single hardware solution that is capable of receiving a broad spectrum and then selecting a particular transmission from it a based on the local spectral conditions and the application. Adaptable solutions such as this do not currently exist due in large part to the interference that occurs when a desired signal is weak and is crowded by a channel containing a high power signal. There are high dynamic range receivers that tolerate such disparate signal levels, but they are not adaptable over large bandwidths. In this project, a novel high-dynamic range receiver topology that promises to enable the reception of a wide instantaneous bandwidth will be explored. The topology is enabled by new signal processing concepts and integrated circuit technologies. The research undertaken will range from the basic theory to experimental demonstration. Reducing the impact of radio frequency interference (RFI), e.g., cellular, radio, TV, satellite and radar signals, and interference from microwave ovens, is crucial for the future of radio astronomical discoveries. When studying celestial radio signals, it is not uncommon for the scientists to puzzle over mysterious interference. To avoid RFI, the radio astronomers select sparsely populated areas to set up their telescopes. In some cases, the quiet zones around the radio telescopes have to be established to limit the use of airwares. Therefore, the technology of RFI mitigation is a critical component needed by radio astronomy science in increasingly challenging RFI environments. This project brings together researchers in radio astronomy, statistical array signal processing, radio frequency instrumentation, digital signal processing, wireless communications, and software defined radios to address these challenges and boost the science of radio astronomy by introducing a novel framework that provides the necessary analytical tools for modeling, analyzing, and operating radio telescope arrays in complex RFI environments.Mitigating RFI in radio astronomy is an interdisciplinary research area which combines the efforts of scientists from various fields including electrical engineering, physics, astronomy, computer science, and astrophysics. Opportunities created by developing RFI mitigation techniques by the joint team of University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) and the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy (CARA) of the University of Texas at Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) researchers will have a direct impact in the number of students participating in STEM careers. The success of this project will be beneficial to both the commercial and the scientific communities. Recently, CARA teamed up with SpaceX, a leading commercial manufacturer of orbital launch vehicles, to create the Space Craft Tracking and Astronomical Research into Gigahertz Astrophysical Transient Emission (STARGATE), a space technology innovation center that combines higher education, research, economic development, and commercialization. The future connections developed between STARGATE's technology/business incubator and the Dallas Telecom Corridor will open up new opportunities for technology transfer and better planning of spectrum use.