Collaborative Research: CNS Core: Medium: Programmable Computational Antennas for Sensing and Communications

无线通信和传感的性能从根本上取决于空间、频率和时间的可用自由度。然而，随着无线系统正在进入毫米波5G和更大带宽的5G（例如，几十GHz）与更大的天线阵列（例如，在基站处的64个或更多天线），自由度的数量变得如此之大，以至于以实际的方式访问它们不再可行。换句话说，在实践中实现足够的计算控制度以访问更高光谱中的可用自由度是具有挑战性的。该项目旨在通过开发计算天线（CompTenna）来解决这一挑战，该天线可以在毫米波和亚太赫兹波段的天线上执行可编程模拟计算。CompTenna最好被视为一种新的计算单元-当与模拟/数字计算相结合时，CompTenna将显著扩展控制程度，以在下一代移动的设备上实现新颖的无线通信和传感应用。通过其连贯的教育计划，该项目还将通过吸引研究生、本科生和高中生，特别是代表性不足的少数民族，培训半导体和无线行业的下一代劳动力。该项目将研究计算天线（CompTenna）的基础以及增加网络容量和实现新无线传感的新方法。它包括三个研究任务。(1)CompTenna基础：开发CompTenna硬件，其计算模型和模拟器。我们的目标是根据有针对性的高级应用需求，以高效的方式合成第一遍物理CompTenna设计。(2)使用CompTenna加速网络：开发技术，以节能的方式利用CompTenna实现的所有自由度。特别是，该项目重点关注如何使用CompTenna为单用户和多用户通信以及分布式干扰管理创建最佳波束成形。(3)使用CompTenna做更多事情：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。

The performance of wireless communications and sensing is fundamentally determined by the available degrees of freedom in space, frequency, and time. However, as the wireless systems are moving into mmWave 5G and beyond-5G with larger bandwidths (e.g., tens of GHz) combined with larger antenna arrays (e.g., 64 or more antennas at base stations), the number of degrees of freedom becomes so large that it is no longer feasible to access them in a practical manner. In other words, it is challenging to achieve sufficient computational degrees of control in practice to access the available degrees of freedom in higher spectra. This project seeks to address this challenge by developing computational antennas (CompTenna) that can perform programmable analog computations at the antenna in the mmWave and sub-THz bands. CompTenna is best viewed as a new computational unit – when combined with analog/digital computations, CompTenna will significantly expand the degrees of control to enable novel wireless communications and sensing applications on next-generation mobile devices. Through its coherent educational plan, this project will also train the next-generation workforce in the semiconductor and wireless industry by engaging graduate, undergraduate, and high-school students, especially the underrepresented minorities. This project will investigate the foundations of computational antennas (CompTenna) and novel methods to increase network capacity and enable new wireless sensing. It includes three research tasks. (1) CompTenna Foundations: develop CompTenna hardware, its computational model, and simulator. The goal is to synthesize a first-pass physical CompTenna design in a time-efficient manner, based on targeted high-level application needs. (2) Speeding Up the Network Using CompTenna: develop techniques to leverage all the degrees of freedom enabled by the CompTenna in an energy-efficient manner. In particular, this project focuses on how to use CompTenna to create optimal beamforming for single-user and multi-user communications and distributed interference management. (3) Doing More with CompTenna: develop foundations and methods for a layered joint sensing and communications architecture.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.