II-NEW: A Beamspace Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) Testbed for Centimeter-Wave and Millimeter-Wave Wireless

该项目将开发一个最先进的网络测试平台，以促进毫米波（mmW）和厘米波（cmW）频率（10GHz-300GHz）新兴无线技术的研究和开发。这些技术是当前学术界和工业界强烈关注的焦点，是5G无线标准及其他新兴愿景的一部分，旨在满足激增的移动设备带来的爆炸式数据速率要求。人们普遍认为，目前运行在6GHz以下的无线网络根本没有足够的频谱来维持这种增长，并提供预期的千兆位数据速率。由于可用带宽比现有系统大几个数量级，以及通过窄波束的高度定向传播，在cmW/mmW中可以实现千兆位速度。本项目旨在利用这两方面的特点，为及时、关键和多方面的问题提供一个多功能、强大的理论实验综合研究平台，以推进毫米波/毫米波技术的前沿。它将促进与许多涉及毫米波/毫米波无线的研究人员的新合作，并提供与光子学，混合信号电路和天线相关进展的协同作用。测试平台的开发将为学生和教师提供一个独特的教学、学习和培训机会，涵盖无线通信、信号处理、网络、射频硬件和天线设计、FPGA（现场可编程门阵列）开发以及系统设计、测量和故障排除。五个工业和学术合作伙伴将为该项目做出贡献。pi计划利用测试平台开发强调跨学科研究和实践经验的新课程，并将其推广到初中和高中。该测试平台还将促进工业-学术合作，以加速毫米波/毫米波技术的发展，并增强美国在5G及以后无线领域的领导地位。正在开发的多波束多输入多输出（MB-MIMO）无线测试平台网络由4个节点组成，这些节点将作为接入点（ap）， 6个节点将作为移动站（ms）或客户端。AP节点将支持宽带高维MIMO功能，该功能由新型天线阵列和基于fpga的新型数字后端支持。该测试平台的一个关键特征是AP节点配备了基于新型连续孔径相控MIMO （CAP）架构的最先进物理层，用于混合模拟-数字宽带多波束形成。该测试平台建立在成功开发的用于概念验证的10GHz CAP-MIMO原型和最近开发的具有先进功能的新28GHz原型的基础上。CAP-MIMO架构利用波束空间中预期的信道稀疏性来优化性能复杂度，并为实现电子多波束转向和数据多路复用的关键能力提供了一种实用方法。该测试平台还将实现多波束宽带MIMO信道的空间分辨率测量，这对cmW/mmW系统的开发至关重要，但目前还无法实现。它将在几个领域开辟新的研究途径，包括信道测量和建模、物理层设计、物理层与更高层之间的交互，以及新的用例，如传感。

This project will develop a state-of-the-art network testbed for facilitating research and development of emerging wireless technologies at centimeter-wave (cmW) and millimeter-wave (mmW) frequencies, spanning 10GHz-300GHz. These technologies are the focus on intense current interest in both academia and industry as part of the emerging vision for 5G wireless standards and beyond for meeting the exploding data rate requirements imposed by proliferating mobile devices. It is widely recognized that current wireless networks operating below 6GHz simply do not have enough spectrum to sustain this growth and deliver the expected multi-Gigabit data rates. Multi-Gigabit speeds are possible in cmW/mmW due to the orders-of-magnitude larger available bandwidth compared to existing systems and the highly directional propagation through narrow beams. This project aims to exploit both features and will develop a versatile and powerful platform for integrated theoretical-experimental research on timely, critical and multi-faceted problems to advance the frontier of cmW/mmW technology. It will facilitate new collaborations with many researchers involved in cmW/mmW wireless, and also provide synergy with related advances in photonics, mixed signal circuits, and antennas. The testbed development will provide a unique teaching, learning and training opportunity for the students and faculty, spanning wireless communications, signal processing, networking, radio-frequency hardware and antenna design, FPGA (field programmable gate array) development, and system design, measurement, and troubleshooting. Five industrial and academic partners will contribute to the project. The PIs' plan to leverage the testbed for new curriculum development emphasizing interdisciplinary research and hands-on experience, and for outreach to middle and high schools. The testbed will also facilitate industrial-academic collaboration to accelerate the development of cmW/mmW technology and to enhance US leadership in 5G wireless and beyond. The multi-beam multiple input multiple output (MB-MIMO) wireless testbed network being developed consists of four nodes that will serve as access points (APs) and six nodes that will serve as mobile stations (MSs) or clients. The AP nodes will enable wideband high-dimensional MIMO functionality supported by a novel antenna array and a new FPGA-based digital backend. A key feature of the testbed is that the AP nodes are equipped with a state-of-the-art physical (PHY) layer based on a novel continuous aperture phased (CAP) MIMO architecture for hybrid analog-digital wideband multi-beamforming. The testbed builds on the successful development of a 10GHz CAP-MIMO prototype for proof-of-concept, and a new recently developed 28GHz prototype with advanced functionality. The CAP-MIMO architecture exploits the expected channel sparsity in beamspace for performance-complexity optimization and enables a practical approach to achieving the critical capability of electronic multi-beam steering and data multiplexing. The testbed will also enable multi-beam wideband MIMO channel measurements at spatial resolutions that are critical to the development of cmW/mmW systems but unavailable at this time. It will open new research avenues in several areas, including channel measurement and modeling, PHY design, interaction between PHY and higher layers, and new use cases, such as sensing.