Green Multi-Antenna and MIMO Radio Transmitters

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Future communication networks will need to be more ubiquitous and agile than they are today. They will be required to support larger demands for mobility and higher data throughput within the environment of multi-mode multi-standard communications. Fifth Generation (5G) wireless technology is scheduled to be deployed in early 2020 and is expected to ensure backward compatibility and offer mobile connectivity with up to 100 times faster data transmission compared to currently deployed 3G+ and 4G technologies. Power efficiency and concurrent multi-standard operability will be the major challenges for the deployment and sustainability of 5G communication systems. To maintain profitability, network operators will have to provide a 100-1000 fold capacity increase to billions of devices, while achieving the difficult task of keeping energy consumption and operating costs at today’s rates. Radio interface is responsible for more than 60% of the entire energy consumption of a typical wireless network. Therefore, to enable 5G services, the wireless industry will have to meet three main milestones: (i) wideband and multi-band capabilities; ii) power-efficient transmission, and iii) Design of multi-antenna (MA) and multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) transceivers. According to the applicant’s research vision, the next evolutionary step for wireless transmission systems is the improvement of their power and spectrum efficiency through frequency reuse across different radio interfaces that are equipped with multiple transmitting antennas with beamforming capabilities. This feature will allow dynamic changes to the power, number and direction of beams radiated by the transmitter. Such phased-array transmitters will allow the available resources – in terms of power, frequency and time – to be shared dynamically and efficiently, yielding more capacity, better sensitivity, selectivity, interference rejection, as well as lower power consumption. The methodology anticipated is based on four research thrusts and directions: i) study and design of green broadband / multi-band power amplifiers; ii) behavior modeling of MIMO systems; iii) design of all-digital transmitters and study and design of MA/MIMO radio systems. MA/MIMO transmitters represent fertile ground for scientific and technical R&D activities, with great potential for innovation and technological advances. The proposed research is aimed at: • Acquiring the know-how and developing knowledge related to MA/MIMO radio frequency front-ends • Integrating baseband and RF signal processing techniques for antenna beamforming/steering with the impairment compensation of MA / MIMO transmitters. • Pushing digital signals from baseband all the way up to the transmit antenna. This will enable to propose and design intelligent and energy efficient and environmentally friendly “green” multi-mode MA/MIMO transmitter technologies.