Fluid Antenna Systems for 6G Wireless Communications: Implementation, System Optimisation and Theoretical Analysis

用于 6G 无线通信的流体天线系统：实施、系统优化和理论分析

• 批准号: EP/W026813/1
• 负责人: Kai-Kit Wong
• 金额: $ 172.32万
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FW026813%2F1
• 关键词: Fluid; Antenna; Systems; 6G; Wireless

The forecast by International Telecommunication Union (ITU) predicts that by 2030, the overall mobile data traffic will reach 5 zettabytes (ZB) per month. Multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) is the most celebrated mobile technology that provides the needed upgrade from 2G to 3G, from 3G to 4G and most recently from 4G to 5G in the form of massive MIMO. In 5G, the number of antennas at the base station (BS) has been increased to 64 to cope with the rising demands. However, the number of antennas at a mobile handset (referred to as user equipment (UE) in the standards) remains small (<=4). This is due to the limited space at the UE, as the common practice is to deploy multiple antennas only if they are sufficiently apart (>=half of the wavelength) to have sufficient diversity of signals at different antennas for ensuring performance gains.It makes us wonder if it is possible to utilise the spatial diversity in a small space of UE more effectively. What if an antenna can be formless, shapeless like water? This is what this project is all about - to design novel antenna systems, coined fluid antennas, that can provide the ultimate reconfigurability and agility for signal and information processing. It is worth pointing out that seawater, albeit much less conductive than metal, has already been demonstrated a radiation efficiency of 70% by Mitsubishi Electric, and fluid antennas using conductive fluids or liquid metals for different reconfigurabilities have been actively researched in recent years.Despite the interest for fluid antennas in the antenna community, it was not until the original work by the investigators when the characteristics of fluid antenna was exploited for the optimisation of wireless communications systems. In the pioneering work, it was revealed that an agile fluid antenna system could, for the first time, realise:(*) Fading-free communications: one fluid antenna could achieve the same diversity as a massive number of fixed antennas.(*) Interference-free communications: spatial multiplexing for multiuser communications can be obtained by skimming through the fading envelopes observed in the space of the fluid antenna, by tuning to the most favourable position (or port) where the interference is in a deep fade, without the need for complex coordination and signal processing.Motivated by the great potential, this project identifies several fundamental challenges of fluid antenna systems, including, design and implementation, signal processing and optimisation, and fundamental network performance analysis, and aims to overcome these challenges in the realisation of the fluid antenna empowered mobile communications technologies by researching on four fronts: (1) Design and implementation of a pump-less, droplet fluid antenna - this addresses the implementation challenges of the fluid antenna system.(2) Information-theoretic network performance analysis in general channel models, representing the 5G/6G bands - this addresses the performance analysis of the communication networks using fluid antennas in the 5G and potential 6G bands.(3) Port selection and opportunistic fluid antenna multiple access (FAMA) - this tackles the network management and resource allocation of mobile communication networks using fluid antennas.(4) Fluid MIMO - this investigates the design and optimisation of MIMO using fluid antennas and multi-droplet fluid MIMO systems.The research directions have never been explored and will play a key role in revolutionising mobile communications. This project has received strong support from BT, Toshiba TRL and VIAVI Solutions who will advise on testbed implementations and ensure industrial relevance of the project.

国际电信联盟（ITU）预测，到2030年，整体移动数据流量将达到每月5泽字节（ZB）。多输入多输出 (MIMO) 是最著名的移动技术，它以大规模 MIMO 的形式提供从 2G 到 3G、从 3G 到 4G 以及最近从 4G 到 5G 所需的升级。在5G中，基站（BS）的天线数量已增加至64个，以应对不断增长的需求。然而，移动手机（在标准中称为用户设备（UE））的天线数量仍然很少（<=4）。这是由于UE的空间有限，通常的做法是部署多个天线，只有当它们足够远（>=波长的一半）时，才能在不同天线上具有足够的信号分集，以确保性能增益。这让我们想知道是否有可能在UE的小空间中更有效地利用空间分集。如果天线可以像水一样无形、无形呢？这就是这个项目的全部内容 - 设计新颖的天线系统，即创造的流体天线，它可以为信号和信息处理提供终极的可重构性和敏捷性。值得指出的是，尽管海水的导电性远不如金属，但三菱电机已证明海水的辐射效率可达 70%，并且近年来人们积极研究使用导电流体或液态金属实现不同可重构性的流体天线。尽管天线界对流体天线产生了兴趣，但直到研究人员最初的工作时，流体天线的特性才被人们所认识。 用于无线通信系统的优化。在这项开创性工作中，人们首次发现敏捷流体天线系统可以实现：（*）无衰落通信：一个流体天线可以实现与大量固定天线相同的多样性。（*）无干扰通信：可以通过浏览在流体天线空间中观察到的衰落包络来获得多用户通信的空间复用，通过 调谐到干扰深度减弱的最有利位置（或端口），无需复杂的协调和信号处理。受巨大潜力的启发，该项目确定了流体天线系统的几个基本挑战，包括设计和实现、信号处理和优化以及基本网络性能分析，旨在通过研究克服在实现流体天线赋能的移动通信技术中的这些挑战 四个方面：(1) 无泵液滴流体天线的设计和实现 - 这解决了流体天线系统的实现挑战。(2) 代表 5G/6G 频段的通用信道模型中的信息论网络性能分析 - 这解决了在 5G 和潜在 6G 频段中使用流体天线的通信网络的性能分析。(3) 端口选择和机会流体天线多址接入 (FAMA) - 这 使用流体天线解决移动通信网络的网络管理和资源分配问题。（4）流体MIMO - 研究使用流体天线和多点流体MIMO系统的MIMO的设计和优化。该研究方向从未被探索过，将在移动通信革命中发挥关键作用。该项目得到了 BT、东芝 TRL 和 VIAVI Solutions 的大力支持，他们将就测试台实施提供建议并确保该项目的行业相关性。

项目成果

Fast Fluid Antenna Multiple Access Enabling Massive Connectivity

快速流体天线多路访问实现大规模连接

• DOI: 10.1109/lcomm.2022.3222574
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Communications Letters
• 作者: Wong K

Continuous Electrowetting Surface-Wave Fluid Antenna for Mobile Communications

用于移动通信的连续电润湿表面波流体天线

• DOI: 10.1109/tencon55691.2022.9977471
• 发表时间: 2022
• 作者: Wang H

Fluid Antenna System Enhancing Orthogonal and Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access

增强正交和非正交多址的流体天线系统

• DOI: 10.1109/lcomm.2023.3333313
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Communications Letters
• 作者: New W

Copula-Based Performance Analysis for Fluid Antenna Systems Under Arbitrary Fading Channels

任意衰落信道下流体天线系统基于 Copula 的性能分析

• DOI: 10.1109/lcomm.2023.3316359
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Communications Letters
• 作者: Rostami Ghadi F

Fluid Antenna Enabling Secret Communications

流体天线实现秘密通信

• DOI: 10.1109/lcomm.2023.3264634
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: IEEE Communications Letters
• 作者: Tang B