NeTS: EAGER: Development of a Millimeter Wave Software Defined Radio

随着传统蜂窝频段频谱的严重短缺，30-300 GHz的毫米波频率作为下一代微蜂窝和微蜂窝无线网络的候选频段越来越受到人们的关注。毫米波频段提供了比当前蜂窝分配更大数量级的频谱，并通过波束形成和空间多路复用实现了超高维天线阵列的进一步增益。然而，毫米波蜂窝通信在很大程度上仍处于初级阶段，迫切需要完全可编程的研究平台来实现这些系统所需的研究和开发。该项目旨在开发一个完全可编程的研究平台，允许对频率超过25 GHz的毫米波系统进行灵活的实验。该平台的硬件组件将以极大的折扣价格提供给美国各地的研究人员。这种硬件的可用性，再加上免费和开源的实施，将使更大的无线网络研究社区从这个平台中获得极大的好处。该平台涉及将SiBeam的Sil6342相控阵天线系统与National Instruments强大的PXI系统集成，以创建完全可编程和模块化的SDR。该平台将支持1 GHz带宽，并允许以亚微秒精度锁存和定时数字控制相控阵。整个实现将是开源的，并免费向公众开放。该平台将支持许多项目：a)动态信道探测；b)研究波束形成技术；c)设计和测试依赖于波束形成和间歇的MAC协议；d)研究新的物理层调制和编码技术等。

With the severe spectrum shortage in conventional cellular bands, millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz have been attracting growing attention as a possible candidate for next-generation micro- and pico-cellular wireless networks. The mmWave bands offer orders of magnitude greater spectrum than current cellular allocations and enables very high-dimensional antenna arrays for further gains via beamforming and spatial multiplexing. However, mmWave cellular communication is still very much in its infancy, and there is an urgent need for fully-programmable research platforms to enable the research and development needed to bring these systems to reality. The project aims to develop a fully-programmable research platform that allows for flexible experimentation with millimeter-wave systems dealing with frequencies above 25 GHz. The hardware components of the platform will be made available to researchers across the United States at deeply discounted rates. The availability of this hardware, combined with the free and open-source implementation will enable the larger wireless networking research community to greatly benefit from this platform.The platform involves integrating SiBeam's Sil6342 phased array antenna system with National Instruments' powerful PXI system, to create a fully programmable and modular SDR. This platform will support 1 GHz bandwidth, and allow a latched and timed digital control of the phased array with sub-microsecond accuracy. The entire implementation will be open-source, and made publically available for free. There are many projects that will be enabled by this platform: a) dynamic channel sounding; b) study of beam-forming techniques; c) design and testing of MAC protocols that rely on beam-forming and intermittency; d) study of new PHY layer modulation and coding techniques; etc.