SWIFT: Advancing Coexistence through a Cross-Layer Design Platform with an Adaptive Frequency-Selective Radio Front-End and Digital Algorithms

SWIFT：通过具有自适应选频无线电前端和数字算法的跨层设计平台促进共存

• 批准号: 2229021
• 负责人: Marvin Onabajo
• 金额: $ 75万
• 依托单位: Northeastern University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2229021&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SWIFT; Advancing; Coexistence; through; Cross

As the crowding of the frequency spectrum continues, it becomes increasingly important to create new devices, circuits and computational algorithms with the ability to adaptively suppress unwanted electromagnetic interference during the reception and processing of wireless signals. This project is centered around the realization of a development platform that can enable transceivers for wireless communication to be designed across different disciplinary boundaries. The design platform will allow the prototyping of new devices and circuits, together with new reconfigurable computing and wireless communication algorithms. The research aims to lay the groundwork for enhanced radio frequency (RF) communication systems that make use of real-time tuning to adapt to different spectrum environments for higher interference tolerance, as well as to provide design techniques and tools that improve the coexistence of wireless devices in a broad range of scenarios. By enabling more compact devices with higher performance, interference robustness and digitally-controlled tuning for reliability, this research will help improve the well-being of our society that increasingly relies on wireless devices and systems for a plethora of needs. The project will also establish a foundation for the training of graduate and undergraduate students who can apply and develop cross-layer design techniques involving devices, circuits and computational algorithms. This research will provide a platform and first hardware prototypes for the co-design of next-generation RF receivers with the ability to suppress both in-channel and adjacent channel interferers without compromising the reception of desired signals that may have much lower power than the interferers. Recent progress in the design of time-modulated devices has led to the possibility to form frequency selective limiters (FSLs), which can intrinsically distinguish and attenuate interference characterized by power levels higher than a certain threshold. However, to realize FSLs that can protect receiver modules of various existing radios, these components require new monolithically integrated resonators with high quality factors (Q 2,000) and with varactors having low loss-tangents, wide tuning ranges and low capacitance values. By taking advantage of the acoustic properties of Aluminum Scandium Nitride (AlScN) thin-films and of the ferroelectric properties of Hafnium Zirconium Oxide (HZO) atomic layers, the research addresses this fundamental challenge through the development of fully integrated microelectromechanical system (MEMS) FSLs that can be manufactured with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process compatibility, and that can be deliberately tuned by analog CMOS circuits towards accomplishing the best possible digital signal processing results when operating in crowded spectral environments. The AlScN/HZO components will be co-developed with custom-designed analog circuits to achieve adaptive characteristics based on detected power levels, allowing to continuously optimize the signal processing quality at both device and system levels. To broaden the benefits across wireless system layers, digital coexistence algorithms and adaptive analog front-end circuits will be conceived to strategically tune the operating points of the FSLs and of the receiver circuits towards the highest communication quality. A prototyping platform with a reconfigurable field-programmable gate array (FPGA) will be constructed to develop the digital coexistence algorithms and apply them to Bluetooth Low Energy, Zigbee and Wi-Fi signals.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.

随着频谱的不断拥挤，在无线信号的接收和处理过程中，创造新的设备、电路和计算算法来自适应地抑制不必要的电磁干扰变得越来越重要。这个项目的核心是实现一个开发平台，可以使无线通信收发器设计跨越不同的学科界限。该设计平台将允许新设备和电路的原型设计，以及新的可重构计算和无线通信算法。该研究旨在为增强型射频（RF）通信系统奠定基础，该系统利用实时调谐来适应不同的频谱环境，以获得更高的干扰容忍度，并提供设计技术和工具，以改善无线设备在广泛场景中的共存。通过使更紧凑的设备具有更高的性能，抗干扰性和数字控制调谐的可靠性，这项研究将有助于改善我们社会的福祉，我们的社会越来越依赖于无线设备和系统的大量需求。该项目还将为培养研究生和本科生奠定基础，使他们能够应用和开发涉及设备、电路和计算算法的跨层设计技术。这项研究将为下一代射频接收器的共同设计提供一个平台和第一个硬件原型，该接收器能够抑制信道内和相邻信道干扰，而不会影响所需信号的接收，这些信号的功率可能比干扰低得多。时间调制器件设计的最新进展使得形成频率选择限制器（FSLs）成为可能，它可以本质上区分和衰减功率水平高于某一阈值的干扰。然而，为了实现可以保护各种现有无线电接收器模块的FSLs，这些组件需要具有高质量因数（q2000）的新型单片集成谐振器和具有低损耗切线，宽调谐范围和低电容值的变容管。通过利用氮化铝钪（AlScN）薄膜的声学特性和氧化铪锆（HZO）原子层的铁电特性，该研究通过开发完全集成的微机电系统（MEMS） FSLs来解决这一基本挑战，该FSLs可以用互补金属氧化物半导体（CMOS）工艺兼容性制造。并且可以通过模拟CMOS电路故意调谐，以便在拥挤的频谱环境中工作时实现最佳的数字信号处理结果。AlScN/HZO组件将与定制设计的模拟电路共同开发，以实现基于检测功率水平的自适应特性，从而在设备和系统级别上不断优化信号处理质量。为了扩大跨无线系统层的优势，数字共存算法和自适应模拟前端电路将被设想为战略性地调整fsl和接收电路的工作点，以达到最高的通信质量。将构建一个带有可重构现场可编程门阵列（FPGA）的原型平台，以开发数字共存算法，并将其应用于低功耗蓝牙、Zigbee和Wi-Fi信号。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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。