Real-Time Electromagnetic Wave Engineering for Next Generation Wireless Systems

从目前的市场趋势推断，预计5G网络将需要支持1,000倍的数据容量增长，以处理超过1,000亿台设备，具有10 Gb/s的峰值速率和低数据传输延迟。考虑到半导体工业的技术极限的最终饱和，以及当前移动的技术的仅仅演进将在很大程度上不足以满足预期需求的事实，向mm波的过渡是当前在无线工业内考虑的最有希望的解决方案之一。虽然向毫米波过渡简化了系统架构，但在硬件限制方面需要重大技术进步。 到目前为止，毫米波系统主要采用基于数字技术的混合架构，其中信号处理的很大一部分是在基带执行的，这意味着高系统复杂性和成本。虽然传统的智慧指向改进基带和射频（RF）架构，目的是实现计算高效的接口和更高密度的集成设计，但该提议采取了一种根本不同的和潜在的破坏性信号处理方法，该方法不依赖于数字技术，因此不会受到其技术瓶颈的影响。这种信号处理范例被称为实时模拟波形工程（RT-AWE）。 RT-AWE是电磁（EM）信号的原始模拟形式和真实的时间的操纵，以实现特定的操作，从而实现微波或毫米波应用，其灵感来自超快光学信号处理原理。RT-AWE系统的核心是色散工程EM结构，其与复杂的EM波形在时间上、空间上或时空上相互作用，产生具有期望特性的瞬时波形响应。在这项研究计划中，申请人计划根据他最近在色散工程移相器，漏波天线，超表面和超材料方面的工作，开发新的毫米波模拟和/或混合RT-AWE技术解决方案。一些关键应用目标是用于微波回程和数据互连应用的多Gbps毫米波链路、超快高分辨率频谱分析仪、智能天线前端和基于超表面的工程EM环境。随着EM超材料的科学创新和对未来无线毫米波系统的工程关注，RT-AWE具有突破性的低成本无线技术的潜力，使其能够为密集城市地区和偏远地理位置的数百万加拿大人提供负担得起的服务。如果成功，RT-AWE可能会继续加拿大科学创新的丰富和大胆的传统，并将该国置于下一次无线革命的前沿。

Extrapolating from current market trends, it is predicted that 5G networks will be required to support a 1,000-fold increase in data capacity to handle over 100 billion devices featuring peak rates of 10 Gb/s and low data transmission latency. Considering the eventual saturation of the technological limits of the semiconductor industry, and the fact that a mere evolution of current mobile technologies will be largely insufficient to meet the anticipated demands, transition to mm-waves is among the most promising solutions considered currently within the wireless industry. While transition to mm-wave features simplified system architectures, it requires major technological progress in terms of hardware constraints. As of today, mm-wave systems resort to hybrid architectures dominantly based on digital techniques, where a significant part of the signal processing is performed at baseband, implying high system complexity and cost. While the conventional wisdom points towards improving baseband and radio-frequency (RF) architectures, with the aim of realizing computationally efficient interfaces and higher density integrated designs, this proposal undertakes a fundamentally different and a potentially disruptive signal processing approach, which does not rely on digital techniques and hence without suffering from their technological bottlenecks. This signal processing paradigm is referred to as Real-Time Analog Wave Engineering (RT-AWE). RT-AWE is the manipulation of electromagnetic (EM) signals in their pristine analog form and in real time to realize specific operations enabling microwave or mm-wave applications, inspired from ultrafast optical signal processing principles. The heart of an RT-AWE system is a dispersion engineered EM structure, which interacts with complex EM waveforms, either temporally, spatially or spatio-temporally, producing instantaneous wave-shaped responses of desired characteristics. In this research program, the applicant plans to develop new mm-wave analog and/or hybrid RT-AWE technological solutions based on his recent works on dispersion engineered phasers, leaky-wave antennas, metasurfaces and metamaterials. Some key application goals are multi-Gbps mm-wave links for microwave backhaul and data interconnect applications, ultrafast high resolution spectrum analyzers, smart antenna front-ends, and metasurface based engineered EM environments. With scientific innovation in EM metamaterials and engineering focus on future wireless mm-wave systems, RT-AWE has the potential for breakthrough low-cost wireless technologies, making them affordable and available to millions of Canadians in both dense urban areas and remote geographical locations. In case of success, RT-AWE may continue the rich and bold tradition of Canadian scientific innovation and place the country among the forefront of the next wireless revolution.