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.

每秒兆兆比特的数据速率将使下一代无线蜂窝应用成为可能，包括延展实境、全息术、触觉反馈和无线认知。这些应用程序部分地提供了为工作，教育和医疗保健创建沉浸式体验的方法，这有助于弥合面对面交互和视频电话之间的体验差距。然而，实现高数据速率需要使用比目前用于蜂窝通信的更高的无线电频带。在过去的五年里，蜂窝通信已经拥抱了较低的毫米波频谱，该频谱指的是从大约25 GHz到100 GHz的无线电频率。实际上，毫米波通信已经成为第五代蜂窝通信系统的定义特征之一。达到每秒太比特的数据速率将需要更高的带宽，即100 GHz以上的带宽，即所谓的亚太赫兹波段。这个合作项目建立了基础，将有助于实现亚太赫兹通信和推动无线技术的未来。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，以服务于上面强调的应用。例如，它开发的技术可以帮助亚太赫兹通信信号更好地绕过障碍物，通过智能反射表面和可重新配置的天线阵列来测量环境。该项目的成果将有助于开发有利于个人通信、安全应用和工业部署的新无线技术。通过与第六代北卡罗来纳州计划的合作伙伴的频繁沟通，将产生行业影响和技术转让。该项目将为更多的本科生和研究生提供无线通信新技术和重要技术方面的专业知识。6 G亚太赫兹增强路由和传输是北卡罗来纳州州立大学（NC State）和延世大学（YSU）无线通信专家的合作项目。它解决了在亚太赫兹频率的多输入多输出（MIMO）通信的反射表面和可重构阵列的设计。它设计了一种方法来配置这些阵列形成或反射的光束，使其绕过障碍物。它创建的算法可以利用阵列中新的可重新配置级别，以获得更高的吞吐量和更强大的通信。最后，它导致创建联合实时硬件（H/W）和软件（S/W）的亚太赫兹通信的测试平台。该项目的独特之处在于改善亚太赫兹通信的多域方法。智力上的优点将出现在几个方面。(a)智能反射表面由最先进的元材料/元设备构成。(b)具有机械和电气控制的自适应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)可重构天线阵列模型及其性能限制。(e)利用真实时间延迟重新配置这些阵列以支持高带宽的算法。(f)一套评估方案，用于测试开发的硬件和算法。直接影响将是确定最相关的方法，使大型阵列能够用于通信和反射应用，以及利用这些阵列增强亚太赫兹频率通信的算法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，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。

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