Vector Network Analyzer for Spatio-Temporal Noise-Shaped Beamforming and 5G applications

适用于时空噪声整形波束形成和 5G 应用的矢量网络分析仪

• 批准号: RTI-2021-00075
• 负责人: Belostotski, Leonid
• 金额: $ 10.93万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=718456
• 关键词: Vector; Network; Analyzer; Spatio; Temporal

Antenna arrays have been around since the early 20th century. By properly combining the signals received by each antenna, an array effective radiation pattern (beam) is reinforced in a desired direction while rejecting signals from other directions. The ability to dynamically adjust the beam orientation, and to form more than one beam, resulted in the wide adoption of arrays for satellite communications and military applications. The recent interest in arrays has been driven by the development of the fifth-generation (5G) wireless networks, which promise faster data rates and improved connectivity. While the market for antenna arrays was already $3.5B in 2008, the development of 5G networks will increase this dramatically. Following this opportunity, the applicant's research program, funded by Canada Research Chair, NSERC Discovery, and NSERC Discovery Accelerator, focuses on developing novel antenna arrays to contribute to this rapidly growing market. Antenna arrays require receivers and beamformers. While the traditional designs replicate receivers at each antenna, such approaches ignore the physical constraints on the received electromagnetic waves (EMWs). Specifically, Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity enforces a region of causality (aka the “light cone”) outside of which no propagating EMWs exist. Each receiver inadvertently contaminates incoming signals with its noise and distortions. Unlike the incoming plane waves, however, the noise/distortions can exist outside the light cone. In our research program, we develop receivers that place undesired noise/distortions outside the light cone where they are consequently filtered out by beamformers. This way of removing noise and distortion is similar to the way delta-sigma circuits employ oversampling to shape noise outside the band of the desired signal. We however use signal sparsity in the spatial-temporal frequency space to avoid both spatial and temporal oversampling and predict considerable improvement in their sensitivity and linearity (e.g. >15dB increase in spurious-free dynamic range). This improvement can be traded off against receiver specifications resulting in savings (power, chip area, cost, etc). It is expected that such a novel approach to antenna arrays will attract industrial interest and contribute to the Canadian economy. The RTI funds will be used to replace our malfunctioning, obsolete, and inadequate network analyzer (NA) to enhance HQP training, enable our HQP to experimentally demonstrate their novel antenna arrays, and disseminate the research outcomes at high-impact venues. An NA is a key tool for any radio-frequency laboratory without which most RF measurements are impossible. Experimental demonstration is important in our field and particularly when dealing with complex systems such as beamformers where simulation do not account for all subtleties.

天线阵列自世纪初就出现了。通过适当地组合由每个天线接收的信号，在期望的方向上增强阵列有效辐射方向图（波束），同时拒绝来自其他方向的信号。动态调整波束方向和形成多个波束的能力导致阵列广泛用于卫星通信和军事应用。最近对阵列的兴趣是由第五代（5G）无线网络的发展推动的，该网络承诺更快的数据速率和更好的连接性。虽然天线阵列市场在2008年已经达到35亿美元，但5G网络的发展将大幅增加这一市场。抓住这个机会，申请人的研究计划由加拿大研究主席、NSERC Discovery和NSERC Discovery Accelerator资助，重点开发新型天线阵列，为这个快速增长的市场做出贡献。 天线阵列需要接收器和波束形成器。虽然传统的设计在每个天线处复制接收器，但是这样的方法忽略了对所接收的电磁波（EMW）的物理约束。具体来说，爱因斯坦的狭义相对论强制了一个因果关系区域（又名“光锥”），在该区域之外不存在传播的电磁波。每个接收器都无意中用其噪声和失真污染了输入信号。然而，与入射平面波不同，噪声/失真可以存在于光锥之外。在我们的研究项目中，我们开发了接收器，将不需要的噪声/失真放在光锥之外，然后通过波束形成器过滤掉。这种消除噪声和失真的方式类似于Δ-Σ电路采用过采样来整形期望信号频带之外的噪声的方式。然而，我们在空间-时间频率空间中使用信号稀疏性来避免空间和时间过采样，并预测其灵敏度和线性度的显著改善（例如，无杂散动态范围增加> 15 dB）。这种改进可以与接收机规范进行权衡，从而节省（功率、芯片面积、成本等）。预计这种新颖的天线阵列方法将吸引工业界的兴趣，并为加拿大经济做出贡献。 RTI的资金将用于更换我们的故障，过时和不足的网络分析仪（NA），以加强HQP培训，使我们的HQP能够实验性地展示他们的新型天线阵列，并在高影响力的场所传播研究成果。NA是任何射频实验室的关键工具，没有它，大多数射频测量都是不可能的。实验演示在我们的领域是很重要的，特别是当处理复杂的系统，如波束形成器，模拟不占所有的微妙之处。