SBIR Phase I: High Performance Millimeter-Wave RF Front-End Technology for Multi-Gigabit Wireless Communications

由于该平台是下一代宽带通信的一系列高速无线应用的推动者，因此SBIR第一阶段项目的广泛影响/商业潜力非常重要。拟议的技术平台将解决毫米波（MMW）无线无线电和网络的一些关键挑战，并可以服务于广泛的无线相关应用和市场，特别是电信回程和固定无线接入市场等。该射频（RF）前端系统与无线模块中的基带电路集成在一起，提供了必要的硬件，为数千万第五代（5G）蜂窝部署提供了真正的光纤速度回程网络，从而为运营商和企业提供了最终的网络稳健性、灵活性，并显著节省了成本。这种先进的无线技术将使下一代网络以及广泛的宽带无线应用能够快速而稳健地推出，并可以在5G技术渗透的整体步伐中发挥关键作用。这反过来将影响许多行业，从智能交通、制造业、医疗保健到智能城市和物联网。该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目旨在为下一代多千兆应用开发超高性能毫米波无线射频前端技术。在数据密集型应用需求不断增长的驱动下，越来越需要更先进的无线设备来实现高数据速率通信。这就是为什么随着多千兆应用的出现，作为无线通信前沿的毫米波技术备受关注的原因。然而，现有的毫米波射频前端技术要么功能有限，要么功耗高，这使得它们不适合新兴的大规模部署，如5G回程、企业和服务提供商的最后一英里宽带等。因此，需要新的毫米波射频前端技术来释放光纤速度无线通信的全部潜力。与同类最佳无线技术相比，所提出的技术提供了更高数量级的性能，并且可以作为多种高速应用的推动者。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this SBIR Phase I project is significant since the platform is an enabler of a range of high-speed wireless applications for the next generation of broadband communications. The proposed technology platform will solve some of the key challenges of millimeter-wave (MMW) wireless radios and networks and can serve a wide set of wireless related applications and markets, particularly the telecommunication backhaul and fixed wireless access markets, among others. This Radio Frequency (RF) front-end system, integrated with the base-band circuitry in a wireless module, provides the hardware necessary to enable the vision of a truly fiber-speed backhaul network for 10s of millions of 5th generation (5G) cell deployments to provide the ultimate network robustness, agility, with significant cost savings for the operators and businesses. This advanced wireless technology will enable rapid and robust roll-out of the next generation network as well as a wide range of broadband wireless applications and can play a pivotal role in overall pace of 5G technology penetration. This in turn will impact many industry sectors, ranging from smart transportation, manufacturing, and healthcare to smart city, and the Internet of Things.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to develop an ultra-high performance MMW wireless RF front-end technology for the next generation of multi-gigabit applications. Driven by the rising demand of the data-intensive applications, there is a growing need for more advanced wireless equipment for high data-rate communications. That is why with the emergence of multi-gigabit applications, there is a significant focus on MMW technology as the frontier of the wireless communication. The existing MMW RF front-end technologies, however, are either limited in their functionality or suffer from high power-consumption, which makes them not suitable for emerging massive deployments such as 5G backhaul, last-mile broadband for enterprise and service providers, etc. As a result, there is a need for new MMW RF front-end technologies to unlock the full potential of fiber-speed wireless communications. The proposed technology offers an order of magnitude higher performance compared to the best-in-class wireless technologies and can serve as an enabler to multiple high-speed applications.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.