Smart antennas: transforming random scattered fields to controlled signals

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Marconi’s commercialization of wireless transformed communications into the most disruptive technology mankind has known. It was the demand for communications technology that spawned our discipline of electrical engineering over a century ago, and today it is still a prime driver of research - for disciplines ranging from mathematics to materials science. In electrical engineering, communications is the cornerstone of ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) and it now shapes the way we do business and socialize. This impact is accelerating and even economists concur that pervasive capability in ICT is key to a country’s economic wellbeing. My discovery research is designed to create economic wealth for Canada by pioneering the world’s premium design knowledge in carefully selected topics in communications. The central theme is the development of smart antennas. This choice is because the antenna is the single-most performance-limiting component in most wireless systems, and yet it is also the component with the single-most potential for improving the capacity and the energy efficiency which are critical for our future systems. A smart antenna comprises multiple-element antennas (MEAs), electronics, and communications signal processing algorithms. The idea is to suppress unwanted signals while enhancing wanted ones through adaptive control of the fields and waves. The design of smart antennas is underpinned by specialist skills and the critical ones are: the conception, design and evaluation of compact, wide-band MEA structures; the associated signal theory and processing; and the understanding and modelling of the propagation channel. These represent diverse disciplines which must be considered together for effective design: the MEAs must adapt to the radiowave propagation whose behaviour is the very reason for needing the advanced signal processing. Successful new smart antenna designs stem from a profound understanding of, and the interplay between: the scattering of waves and fields; the antenna elements; and the signal processing. This Discovery research is the backbone of my research programme. It will produce: new foundations and methods for widely-accepted MEA evaluation; the world’s best MEA designs for future systems; new applications for the knowledge; and a new generation of world-class research and development engineers that will lead product development teams. The applications are wide. In communications, the applications range from short-distance links for the Internet of Things to satellite radar systems for earth resource monitoring. Other applications of the technology range from smart microwave heating of food for Canada’s agricultural sector to smart spatial acoustic noise control for a more liveable environment and immersive acoustics.