NSF-IITP: START6G -- Sub-THz Augmented Routing and Transmission for 6G

NSF-IITP：START6G——6G 亚太赫兹增强路由和传输

• 批准号: 2153698
• 负责人: Robert Heath
• 金额: $ 38万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-04-01 至 2025-03-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2153698&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: NSF; IITP; START6G; Sub; THz

Terabit-per-second data rates will enable next-generation wireless cellular applications, including extended reality, holography, haptic feedback, and wireless cognition. These applications provide, in part, the means to create an immersive experience for work, education, and healthcare which helps to bridge the gap in experience between in-person interaction and video telephony. Achieving the high data rates, though, requires going to higher radio frequency bands than are currently used for cellular communications. In the last five years, cellular communication has embraced the lower millimeter wave spectrum, which refers to radio frequencies from about 25 GHz to 100 GHz. Indeed, millimeter wave communication has become one of the defining features of fifth generation cellular communication systems. Going to terabit-per-second data rates will require higher bandwidths that are available above 100 GHz, in what is known as the sub-THz band. This collaborative project establishes fundamentals that will help realize sub-THz communication and drive the future of wireless technology. It develops new hardware and algorithms that help to create the required high data rate communication links to serve the applications highlighted above. For example, it develops technology that helps sub-THz communication signals better go around obstacles, by instrumenting the environment with smart reflective surfaces and reconfigurable antenna arrays. The results of the project will contribute to the development of new wireless technologies that are beneficial for personal communication, safety applications and industrial deployments. Industry impact and technology transfer will occur through frequent communication with the partners of the sixth generation North Carolina program. The project will lead to more undergraduate and graduate students with expertise on new and important technologies for wireless communications.Sub-THz Augmented Routing and Transmission for 6G is a collaboration among experts in wireless communications at North Carolina State University (NC State) and Yonsei University (YSU). It addresses the design of reflective surfaces and reconfigurable arrays for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication at sub-THz frequencies. It devises methods for configuring the beams formed or reflected from those arrays in a way that routes around obstacles. It creates algorithms that exploit new levels of reconfigurability in the arrays to obtain higher throughput and more robust communications. Finally, it results in the creation of joint real-time hardware (H/W) and software (S/W) testbeds for sub-THz communications. The uniqueness of this project lies in the multi-domain approach for improving sub-THz communications. The intellectual merit will occur in several directions. (a) Intelligent reflective surfaces constructed from state-of-the-art meta-materials / meta-devices. (b) Reconfigurable antenna arrays with adaptable structures that are mechanically and electrically controlled. (c) Directional-beam-based initial access and beam routing algorithms that leverage channel map information. (d) Models of reconfigurable antennas arrays and performance limits of those arrays. (e) Algorithms that leverage true time delays to reconfigure those arrays to support high bandwidths. (f) A suite of evaluation scenarios that test the developed hardware and algorithms. The immediate impact will be to identify the most relevant approaches for enabling large arrays for communication and reflective applications, as well as algorithms that leverage those arrays to enhance communication at sub-THz frequencies. The long-term impact will be in the development and realization of sub-THz communication as part of 6G wireless communications.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.

太比特每秒的数据速率将支持下一代无线蜂窝应用，包括扩展现实、全息术、触觉反馈和无线认知。这些应用程序在一定程度上提供了为工作、教育和医疗保健创建沉浸式体验的方法，有助于缩小面对面交互和视频电话之间的体验差距。然而，要实现高数据速率，需要使用比当前蜂窝通信使用的更高的射频频段。在过去五年中，蜂窝通信已经采用了较低的毫米波频谱，即约 25 GHz 至 100 GHz 的无线电频率。事实上，毫米波通信已成为第五代蜂窝通信系统的定义特征之一。达到太比特每秒的数据速率将需要 100 GHz 以上的可用带宽，即所谓的亚太赫兹频段。该合作项目奠定了有助于实现亚太赫兹通信并推动无线技术未来的基础。它开发了新的硬件和算法，有助于创建所需的高数据速率通信链路来服务上述应用程序。例如，它开发了通过智能反射表面和可重构天线阵列来检测环境的技术，帮助亚太赫兹通信信号更好地绕过障碍物。该项目的成果将有助于新无线技术的开发，有利于个人通信、安全应用和工业部署。行业影响和技术转让将通过与第六代北卡罗莱纳州计划的合作伙伴的频繁沟通来实现。该项目将培养更多本科生和研究生掌握无线通信新技术和重要技术的专业知识。6G 亚太赫兹增强路由和传输是北卡罗来纳州立大学 (NC State) 和延世大学 (YSU) 无线通信专家之间的合作项目。它解决了亚太赫兹频率下多输入多输出 (MIMO) 通信的反射表面和可重构阵列的设计。它设计了一些方法，用于配置从这些阵列形成或反射的光束，使其绕过障碍物。它创建的算法利用阵列中新级别的可重构性来获得更高的吞吐量和更稳健的通信。最后，它创建了用于亚太赫兹通信的联合实时硬件（H/W）和软件（S/W）测试台。该项目的独特性在于改善亚太赫兹通信的多域方法。智力价值将体现在几个方面。 (a) 由最先进的超材料/超设备构造的智能反射表面。 (b) 具有机械和电气控制的适应性结构的可重构天线阵列。 (c) 利用信道映射信息的基于定向波束的初始接入和波束路由算法。 (d) 可重构天线阵列的模型和这些阵列的性能限制。 (e) 利用真实时间延迟来重新配置这些阵列以支持高带宽的算法。 (f) 一套测试所开发的硬件和算法的评估场景。直接影响将是确定用于通信和反射应用的大型阵列的最相关方法，以及利用这些阵列增强亚太赫兹频率通信的算法。长期影响将在于作为 6G 无线通信一部分的次太赫兹通信的开发和实现。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。

项目成果

Multi-User Downlink Beamforming Using Uplink Downlink Duality With 1-Bit Converters for Flat Fading Channels

• DOI: 10.1109/tvt.2022.3196603
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
• 影响因子: 6.8
• 作者: K. Mazher;A. Mezghani;R. Heath

A Wideband Generalization of the Near-Field Region for Extremely Large Phased-Arrays

• DOI: 10.1109/lwc.2022.3233011
• 发表时间: 2022-06
• 期刊: IEEE Wireless Communications Letters
• 影响因子: 6.3
• 作者: N. Deshpande;Miguel R. Castellanos;Saeed R. Khosravirad;Jinfeng Du;H. Viswanathan;R. Heath

Linear Polarization Optimization for Wideband MIMO Systems With Reconfigurable Arrays

• DOI: 10.1109/twc.2023.3297130
• 发表时间: 2024-03
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications
• 影响因子: 10.4
• 作者: Miguel R. Castellanos;R. Heath

Joint Relay Selection and Beam Management Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning for Millimeter Wave Vehicular Communication

• DOI: 10.1109/tvt.2023.3274763
• 发表时间: 2022-12
• 期刊: IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology
• 影响因子: 6.8
• 作者: Dohyun Kim;Miguel R. Castellanos;R. Heath

Massive MIMO in 5G: How Beamforming, Codebooks, and Feedback Enable Larger Arrays

• DOI: 10.1109/mcom.001.2300064
• 发表时间: 2023-01
• 期刊: IEEE Communications Magazine
• 影响因子: 11.2
• 作者: Ryan M. Dreifuerst;R. Heath