CAREER: Frequency Agile Real-Time Reconfigurable RF Analog Co-Processor Design Leveraging Engineered Nanoparticle and 3D Printing

对高速、可靠、高数据速率传输的需求不断增长，新兴的频谱升级和频谱高效利用是满足这些迫切需求的关键方法。然而，具有宽瞬时频带的新频谱给传统硬件系统中的滤波器设计、高性能模数转换器设计和数字信号处理器设计带来了前所未有的挑战。因此，本课题旨在研究低成本、紧凑的可重构实时射频（RF）模拟协处理器，以减少数字域的处理负荷，从而加快计算速度，节省能耗，降低系统整体成本。射频模拟协处理器将为开发未来通信和计算硬件平台带来新的解决方案，研究成果可直接应用于雷达、5G/6G/NextG无线通信、自动驾驶、物联网（IoT）、量子计算、人工智能、机器学习、无线传感、智慧城市、智慧健康和智慧生活。此外，利用先进的3D打印和相变纳米颗粒控制的复合墨水开发紧凑型可打印射频协同处理器设计将为RF/微波组件，电路和无线系统的新型低成本快节奏设计方法铺平道路，具有新功能和高度的灵活性，可调性和适应性。该项目的教育和推广工作将扩大HBCU在当地和全国范围内未被充分代表的少数民族学生在工程领域的参与。此外，该项目的研究模式和教育计划将成为帮助其他HBCUs在K-12，本科和研究生教育中产生影响的优秀资源。CAREER项目的总体目标是通过开发具有可配置介电特性的新型复合薄膜并结合3D打印技术，以低成本紧凑的形式研究可重构的实时射频模拟协处理器电路。具体而言：1)将开发射频模拟协处理器，直接在其电磁波形域中执行可配置的数学运算，以减轻数字信号处理中的高计算负荷。2)通过控制载体基质材料中相变纳米颗粒的形状、大小和填充因子，制备具有可配置介电性能的薄膜，实现频率可调的射频模拟协处理器。3)利用可打印的相变复合油墨，利用金属介质同步3D打印技术，可以制造出低成本、3D紧凑外形的可配置频率的射频模拟协处理器。射频实时可配置模拟信号协处理器具有以下优点，可以满足高数据速率传输和低能耗高速计算的需要：a)直接在模拟域的射频频率处理信号，然后将其转换为数字域，从而加快了计算速度。b)放宽了频谱感知、信号变换、数学运算、信号调制、频率转换、模数转换等处理需求，降低了数字信号处理的功耗。c)新型可打印复合材料和先进的3D打印技术使设计具有重量轻、尺寸小、成本低的特点，有利于将这些设计集成到复杂系统中。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。

The demand for high speed, reliable, and high data rate transmission are continuously increasing, and emerging upscaled spectrum and efficient spectrum utilization are key methodologies to support those urgent needs. However, the new spectrum with wide instantaneous bands brings unprecedented challenges for filters design, high performance analog to digital converters design, and digital signal processors design in conventional hardware systems. Therefore, this project aims to investigate reconfigurable real-time radio frequency (RF) analog co-processor in low-cost compact form factor to reduce the processing load in digital domain, which can accelerate computation speed, save the energy consumption, and reduce the overall system cost. The RF analog co-processor will lead to new solutions for developing future communication and computing hardware platforms, and the research outcome can be directly applied to radar, 5G/6G/NextG wireless communications, autonomous driving, internet of things (IoT), quantum computing, AI, machine learning, wireless sensing, smart city, smart health, and smart living. In addition, leveraging advanced 3D printing and phase-changing nanoparticle-controlled composite ink development for compact printable RF co-processor design will pave the way towards novel low-cost fast-paced design methodology in RF/microwave components, circuit, and wireless system with new features and high degrees of flexibility, tunability and adaptability. The education and outreach effort in this project will broaden the participation of underrepresented minority students in HBCU in the engineering fields, both locally and across the nation. Furthermore, the model of research and education plan in this project will be excellent resource to help other HBCUs generate impacts in K-12, undergraduate, and graduate education, expanding the pool of diverse and multi-disciplinary talent for STEM workforce development in the U.S.The overarching goal of this CAREER project is to investigate reconfigurable real-time RF analog co-processor circuits in low-cost compact form factor by developing novel composite film with configurable dielectric characteristic and incorporating 3D printing technique. To be specific: 1) An RF analog co-processor will be developed to perform configurable mathematical operations directly at its electromagnetic waveform domain to relax high computational load in digital signal processing. 2) A film with configurable dielectric property will be developed by manipulating the shape, size, and filling factor of phase-changing nanoparticles in carrier matrix material to achieve frequency-tunable RF analog co-processor. 3) With the printable phase-changing composite ink, a simultaneous metal-dielectric 3D printing technique will be leveraged to fabricate the frequency-configurable RF analog co-processor in 3D compact form factor with low cost. The RF real-time configurable analog signal co-processor features the following advantages to cater the needs of high-date-rate transmission and high-speed computation with low energy consumption: a) It processes the signals directly at RF frequency in analog domain before converting them to digital domain, which accelerates the computing speed. b) It relaxes the processing demand of spectrum sensing, signal transformation, mathematical operation, signal modulation, frequency conversion, and analog/digital conversion, which reduces power consumption in digital signal processing. c) The novel printable composite material and the advanced 3D printing technique enable designs with light weight, compact size, and low cost, which facilitates the integration of these designs in complex systems.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.