SBIR Phase II: Large Arrays for 5G MU-MIMO Wireless Access Operating in mm-wave Frequency Bands

SBIR 第二阶段：在毫米波频段运行的 5G MU-MIMO 无线接入大型阵列

• 批准号: 1927011
• 负责人: Sriramkumar Venugopalan
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: RF Pixels, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-01 至 2021-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1927011&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Large; Arrays

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project focuses on the development of a patented radio front-end supporting multi-user MIMO capability for the 5G mm-wave infrastructure market that would enable cost efficient, high data rate access wirelessly as opposed to cost prohibitive fiber-based data connectivity. Cellular and Wi-Fi networks are hitting a spectrum bottleneck in terms of their ability to offer higher data rates to densely populated areas and the same in a cost-efficient manner to remote rural areas. Advent of 5G cellular networks with new bands in the mm-wave frequency spectrum (between 28-70 GHz) alleviates these issues. RF Pixels' innovative mm-wave radio front-end will enable spectrum efficient communication through frequency re-use to spatially separated users at a fraction of the cost compared to known solutions. Thousands of mobile internet users can enjoy high data rates simultaneously without being starved of spectrum. Data heavy paradigms connecting consumer devices and the cloud, such as wireless virtual reality headsets and robotic personal assistants can be implemented with ease. Virtual and augmented reality based remote educational programs, online health care, smart cities, smart transportation and other new low-latency services will be enhanced delivering major economic and societal impact.This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project proposes a revolutionary tile architecture that enables massive multi-user MIMO techniques for mm-wave radio systems, without the hardware and power consumption costs of full digital solutions. The radio can efficiently reuse the spectrum between spatially diverse users with active beamforming. Multitude of tiles will be used in a large array making it crucial to achieve excellent power efficiency at the tile level. Tile-to-tile variations hamper accurate beamforming requiring calibration. Beam discovery, refinement and tracking of multiple mobile users simultaneously requires investigation. In Phase I feasibility of a tile architecture that achieves multi-user MIMO and scale to large element arrays was proven. This project will investigate clock generation and coherent distribution to every tile in a large array for accurate beamforming and interference cancellation. Turnkey approach for packaging and antenna array design will be investigated. Impact of tile-to-tile variations on beamforming accuracy and calibration algorithms to mitigate variations will be studied. New algorithms will aim to achieve low-sensitivity to post-calibration errors without much downtime. Beam management algorithms for accurate tracking of mobile users compatible with guidelines of 5G NR standard will be developed.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.

该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力集中在为5G毫米波基础设施市场开发支持多用户MIMO功能的专利无线电前端，该功能将实现具有成本效益的高数据速率无线接入，而不是成本高昂的基于光纤的数据连接。蜂窝和Wi-Fi网络在向人口密集地区提供更高数据速率的能力方面遇到了频谱瓶颈，并以具有成本效益的方式向偏远农村地区提供同样的数据速率。在毫米波频谱（28-70 GHz之间）中具有新频段的5G蜂窝网络的出现使这些问题更加突出。RF Pixels的创新毫米波无线电前端将通过频率重用实现频谱高效通信，以与已知解决方案相比的一小部分成本与空间分离的用户进行通信。成千上万的移动的互联网用户可以同时享受高数据速率而不会受到频谱的饥饿。连接消费者设备和云的重数据模式，如无线虚拟现实耳机和机器人个人助理，可以轻松实现。基于虚拟和增强现实的远程教育项目、在线医疗保健、智能城市、智能交通和其他新的低延迟服务将得到增强，从而产生重大的经济和社会影响。这个小型企业创新研究第二阶段项目提出了一种革命性的瓦片架构，可以为毫米波无线电系统实现大规模多用户MIMO技术，而无需全数字解决方案的硬件和功耗成本。无线电可以利用主动波束成形在空间分集用户之间有效地重用频谱。在大型阵列中将使用多个瓦片，这使得在瓦片级实现出色的功率效率至关重要。瓦片到瓦片的变化妨碍需要校准的精确波束成形。同时对多个移动的用户进行波束发现、细化和跟踪需要研究。在第一阶段，实现多用户MIMO和扩展到大单元阵列的瓦片架构的可行性得到了证明。本项目将研究时钟生成和相干分布到大阵列中的每个瓦片，以实现精确的波束形成和干扰消除。将研究封装和天线阵列设计的交钥匙方法。将研究瓦片到瓦片变化对波束成形精度和校准算法的影响，以减轻变化。新算法的目标是在没有太多停机时间的情况下实现对校准后误差的低灵敏度。该奖项反映了NSF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。