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

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于其实现任何尺寸的多输入多输出（MIMO）探测器的能力。这反过来又影响了无线通信行业的广泛需求，无线通信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已包含在所有无线标准中，例如WiFi，WiMAX和LTE。到目前为止，市场上已经出现了尺寸高达4x4（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-Advanced cellular，已指定MIMO尺寸达到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。对于蜂窝网络来说，这意味着在基站塔较少的农村地区改善连接，具有积极的经济影响。试图建立更大的MIMO系统（如16x16）的行业活动正在发生。最近，在基站上有超过100个天线的大规模MIMO网络被提议用于5G及以后的蜂窝网络。这些趋势表明，该项目所基于的可扩展MIMO技术有很大的市场机会。这个小型企业技术转移研究（STTR）第二阶段项目计划开发和商业化一套与多输入多输出（MIMO）通信相关的知识产权（IP）软件代码/IP核。这些核心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，这将推动成本和功耗。最优MIMO探测器的复杂性随着发射天线的数量呈指数增长。对于大多数在文献中提出并被工业采用的近最优MIMO探测器也是如此。这种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，增加范围和数据速率。本项目采用了一种新颖的技术，实现了接近最优的性能，其复杂性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，在一个负担得起的复杂性。

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.