Multifunctional Antenna Systems for 5G Applications

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The unprecedented emergence of new wireless applications in recent years pervades all aspect of our life. It is predicted that by 2020, the number of connected wireless devices will be 34 billion. The emerging 5G network brings the Internet of Things (IOT) to reality by connecting billions of devices. 5G IoT devices promise to create the next wave of Internet-enabled innovation with significant potential to reshape many industrial and consumer environments. They will enable many applications such smart home; wearable devices for health monitoring and performance assessment; environmental monitoring; education, entertainments, and smart appliances. ***To host all these applications and accommodate the future ones in a single platform; scalable, flexible and multi-purpose energy smart wireless devices are required. These devices need to sense environmental conditions, adapt to user requirements, and decide how to communicate among themselves in a self-organized manner for hyper-connected Internet of everything. Traditionally, these features are implemented at higher physical layers, which are far away from the antennas which have direct interaction with outside environments. This approach leads to bulky, complex and expensive systems with numerous components, which are not amenable to the high level of miniaturizations and integrations required by modern wireless applications. The systems also require significant digital signal processing capacity and have high power consumptions. These issues prevent them of being widespread commercial products.***These challenges highlight the need for a new conceptual approach that will redefine the way that these wireless devices interact with their environments. We propose to transfer the implementation of main features such as sensing, intelligence and adaptability from higher physical layers to the level of antenna apertures and investigate new topologies in which these systems become integral to antenna structures. This approach enables antennas to act as energy efficient multi-functional systems with unparalleled level of integration with much less required processing power.***The proposed concept has a transformational effect on the future of 5G IoT systems and devices. It is anticipated that many Canadian industries such those in wireless communications, oil and gas, constructions, smart homes, and environmental monitoring significantly benefit from the outcomes of this proposal. ***The HQPs are the integral part of this proposal. With the unique training setting, they will be ready to tackle the future cutting edge challenges in this field.