Unlocking Potentials of MIMO Full-duplex Radios for Heterogeneous Networks (UPFRONT)

该项目将开发多天线全双工技术，以在HetNet(异质网络)中实现高效的频谱利用。全双工无线电远不止是目前文献中所认为的容量的两倍。更明确地说，我们认为它正在使通信技术变得不可能成为可能。全双工通信的影响是变革性的。全双工允许同时发送和接收，促使人们从根本上重新思考无线网络的设计和优化方式。然而，发送信号的功率比接收信号的功率大得多(超过100分贝)，这一事实助长了人们的看法，即不可能在单一通道上将它们分开。最近，随着Choi等人的开创性工作，这种情况开始改变。来自斯坦福大学，他演示了一种在单一信道上工作的全双工无线电。我们设想全双工可以改变无线网络的操作，并有望在HetNet中获得巨大的好处。HetNets被广泛认为是通过宏蜂窝和小蜂窝之间的复杂互操作来提供未来无线通信(包括5G)的关键无线技术之一。HetNet之所以引起巨大兴趣，是因为它们有能力提供高区域容量和灵活的覆盖范围，更重要的是它们的低基础设施成本。在HetNets中，从宏蜂窝到小蜂窝(如微微蜂窝和毫微微蜂窝)的各种无线覆盖区域获得了无线覆盖的马赛克。移动运营商越来越感兴趣的是客户安装的毫微微蜂窝，这种蜂窝可以极大地改善室内覆盖，但与宏蜂窝共享相同的频段。HetNet在资源分配、物理层设计和优化方面有着巨大的研究范围。该项目将通过设计一个将天线设计、物理层信号处理和网络资源分配互连起来的整体解决方案，充分挖掘HetNets中MIMO全双工的潜力，以应对全双工的内在挑战，并实现其巨大的端到端好处。为了实现这一目标，Up Front First提出了专门针对宽带MIMO全双工的新天线设计，这比现有的窄带单天线情况具有更大的挑战性。接下来，我们利用强大的MIMO信号处理功能来处理被忽视的小区内干扰和全双工操作引入的新干扰，这对于提供全双工HetNet的端到端优势至关重要，但以前没有得到很好的研究。此外，前期将探索尚未探索的全双工机会，以解决与在共享相同移动频谱的更大宏蜂窝结构下采用全双工小蜂窝相关的网络范围资源分配挑战。前期的结果将阐明全双工设计的整体方法的重要性，并对未来无线网络的基础和实用研究产生影响。

This project will develop multi-antenna full-duplex technology to achieve highly efficient spectrum usage in HetNets (heterogeneous networks). Full-duplex radios are much more than just doubling the capacity as perceived in current literature. More explicitly speaking, we believe that it is making communication technologies impossible become possible. The implications of full-duplex communications are transformative. Full duplex, which permits simultaneous transmission and reception, motivates a fundamental rethinking of the ways wireless networks are designed and optimised.However, the fact that the power of the transmitting signal is so much larger (over 100 dB) than that of the receiving signal has fuelled the belief that it is impossible to separate them on a single channel. Recently, this picture has begun to change, following the pioneering work by Choi et al. from Stanford University who demonstrated a working full-duplex radio on a single channel.We envisage that full-duplexing can transform the operations of wireless networks and is expected to have massive benefits in HetNets. HetNets are widely regarded as one key wireless technology for the provision of future wireless communications (including 5G) by complex interoperation between macrocells and small cells. The enormous interest for HetNets is due to their capability of providing high regional capacities and flexible coverage, and more importantly their low infrastructure costs. In HetNets, a mosaic of wireless coverage is obtained by a variety of wireless coverage zones from macrocell to small cell such as, pico- and femtocell. Of increasing interest to mobile operators are the customers' installed femtocells that can greatly improve indoor coverage but share the same frequency band as the macrocells. There is a huge scope of research in resource allocation and physical-layer design and optimisation in HetNets. This project will exploit the full potential of MIMO full-duplexing in HetNets by designing a holistic solution that interconnects antenna design, physical-layer signal processing, and network resource allocation to address the inherent challenges of full-duplexing and realise its massive end-to-end benefits. To achieve this goal, UPFRONT first proposes new antenna design specially for wideband MIMO full-duplexing, which is substantially more challenging than the existing narrowband single-antenna case. Next we leverage the powerful MIMO signal processing to handle the overlooked in-tercell interference and new interference introduced by the full-duplex operation, which are critical to deliver the end-to-end benefits of full-duplex HetNets but were not well studied before. Furthermore, UPFRONT will explore the unexplored full-duplexing opportunities to address the networking-wide resource allocation challenges associated with the adoption of full-duplexing small cells under the greater macrocell structure sharing the same mobile spectrum. The outcomes of UPFRONT will elucidate the importance of a holistic approach to full-duplexing design and have impact in fundamental and practical research of future wireless networks.