CAREER: Unifying Millimeter-wave Networking and Sensing using Commodity Backscatter

物联网(IoT)设备正在整合到我们日常生活的几乎方方面面，应用于物流、供应链、医疗保健、智慧城市、人机交互、跟踪、传感等。然而，为这些物联网设备提供高速无线连接仍然是一个具有挑战性的开放问题。虽然超高速无线网络(如下一代802.11ad/ay WiFi和5G蜂窝网络)正在使用高频毫米波(毫米波)频谱进行部署，但今天的物联网设备(如蓝牙和RFID)仍然主要在较低频率(低于6 GHz)下运行，因为它们的功耗要求较低。该项目的目的是开发用于商品毫米波后向散射的方法和工具，并使物联网设备能够在毫米波频率下运行。建议的毫米波后向散射将使毫米波与数百万个物联网设备实现高速、低功耗和低成本的无线连接。该项目将研究商品毫米波后向散射(称为毫米波)，并实现统一的毫米波联网和传感框架，其中(I)可以将毫米波设备集成到今天的毫米波网络中，以实现无缝的高速连接；(Ii)通过密集部署毫米波物联网设备，可以提高毫米波网络的健壮性。该项目包括四个研究项目：(1)将开发稳健的后向散射通信技术，其中mmID标签可以利用现有的毫米波网络协议消息来调制其数据；(2)密集部署的毫米波后向散射器将被用于无线局域网中的主动阻塞缓解和移动性恢复；(3)将通过符号翻译技术和自干扰缓解来设计高速商品毫米波后向散射；(4)将利用商品毫米波后向散射来实现高精度和低成本的传感，并在可访问性方面的应用。建议的毫米波后向散射技术和协议将针对新兴的商用毫米波网络进行设计、实施和评估，例如802.11ad/ay无线局域网和5G NR。该项目提出了综合研究和教育计划，并开展了涉及少数族裔群体的高中生和残疾本科生的外展活动。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices are being integrated into virtually every aspect of our daily lives with applications in logistics, supply chain, healthcare, smart cities, human-computer interaction, tracking, sensing, etc. However, providing high-speed wireless connectivity to these IoT devices remains a challenging open problem. While very high-speed wireless networks such as the next generation 802.11ad/ay WiFi and 5G cellular networks are being deployed using the high-frequency millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum, today’s IoT devices (such as Bluetooth and RFIDs) still primarily operate at lower frequencies (sub-6 GHz) due to their low power requirements. The aim of this project is to develop methods and tools for commodity mmWave backscattering and enable IoT devices to operate at mmWave frequencies. The proposed mmWave backscattering will enable high-speed, low-power, and low-cost mmWave wireless connectivity to millions of IoT devices.The project will investigate commodity mmWave backscatter (called mmIDs) and realize a unified mmWave networking and sensing framework where (i) the mmID devices can be integrated into today’s mmWave networks for their seamless high-speed connectivity and (ii) robustness of the mmWave networks can be improved through the presence of densely deployed mmID IoT devices. The project includes four research thrusts: (1) Robust backscatter communication techniques will be developed where mmID tags can exploit the existing mmWave networking protocol messages to modulate their data; (2) Densely deployed mmWave backscatters will be leveraged for proactive blockage mitigation and mobility resilience in WLANs; (3) A high-speed commodity mmWave backscatter will be devised through symbol translation techniques and self-interference mitigation; (4) The commodity mmWave backscatter will be exploited to enable high-accuracy and low-cost sensing with applications in accessibility. The proposed techniques and protocols for mmWave backscattering will be designed, implemented, and evaluated for emerging commodity mmWave networks such as 802.11ad/ay WLANs and 5G NR. The project presents integrated research and education plan with outreach activities involving high school students from underrepresented minority groups and undergraduate students with disabilities.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.