STTR Phase II: Scalable Detector for Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) Communication Systems

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于它能够实现任何规模的多输入多输出（MIMO）探测器。这反过来又影响了无线通信行业的广泛需求，该行业一直在寻求更有效地利用稀缺的频谱资源。自15年前发明以来，MIMO已被包括在所有无线标准中，例如WiFi，WiMAX和LTE。到目前为止，市场上已经出现了尺寸高达4x 4（即4个发射天线和4个接收天线）的MIMO产品，而最新的标准，如IEEE 802.11ac WiFi和LTE-高级蜂窝，已经规定MIMO尺寸高达8x8。对于WiFi来说，这意味着在公共场所和工作场所设置更有效的热点。对于移动通信来说，这意味着在基站塔较少的农村地区改善连接，从而产生积极的经济影响。尝试构建更大的MIMO系统（如16 x16）的行业活动正在发生。最近，5G蜂窝及更高版本的基站上有超过100个天线的大规模MIMO网络被提出。这些趋势表明，本项目所基于的可扩展MIMO技术具有巨大的市场机会。本小企业技术转移研究（STTR）第2阶段项目计划开发和商业化一套与多输入多输出（MIMO）相关的知识产权（IP）软件代码/IP核。通讯这些内核满足了无线芯片组制造商的需求。MIMO系统设计和实现的主要障碍是其复杂性，这导致了成本和功耗。最佳MIMO检测器的复杂度随着发射天线的数量呈指数增长。对于文献中提出并被工业采用的大多数接近最优的MIMO检测器也是如此。这一限制一直是开发商用MIMO系统的主要障碍，这些系统支持更大的阵列尺寸，增加了范围和数据速率。该项目采用了一种新的技术，该技术实现了接近最佳的性能，其复杂度仅随发射天线的数量线性增长。因此，它可以用于实现任何规模的MIMO系统，并且复杂度可以承受。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project lies in its ability to implement multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) detectors of any size. This, in turn, impacts the broad needs of wirelesscommunications industry that is always in search of more efficient use of the scarce spectral resources.Since its invention 15 years ago, MIMO has been included in all wireless standards, e.g. WiFi,WiMAX, and LTE. As of today, MIMO products of sizes up to 4x4 (i.e. 4 transmit and 4 receiveantennas) have appeared in the market, while the most recent standards, such as IEEE 802.11ac WiFiand LTE-Advanced cellular, have specified MIMO sizes as large as 8x8. For WiFi this can mean moreeffective hot-spots in public and workplace settings. For cellular this can mean improved connectivityin rural areas with fewer base-station towers, having a positive economic impact. Industry activitiesthat attempt to build larger MIMO systems such as 16x16 are occurring. Massive MIMO networks withmore than 100 antennas at the base stations have recently been proposed for 5G cellular and beyond.These trends indicate a large market opportunity for the scalable MIMO technology that this projectbuilds upon.This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase 2 project plans to develop andcommercialize a set of intellectual property (IP) software-codes/IP-cores related to multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) communications. These cores address the needs of wireless chipsetmanufacturers. The main hurdle in the design and implementation of MIMO systems is theircomplexity which drives cost and power consumption. The complexity of an optimal MIMO detectorgrows exponentially with the number of transmit antennas. The same is true for most of the nearoptimal MIMO detectors that have been suggested in the literature and adopted by industry. Thislimitation has been the main impediment in developing commercial MIMO systems that support largerarray sizes with increased range and data rate. This project adopts a novel technology that achieves nearoptimal performance having complexity that only grows linearly with the number of transmit antennas.It thus can be used to implement MIMO systems of any size, at an affordable complexity.