RoF Active MIMO Antenna for Broadband Communications

未来的宽带无线通信网络必须更加普及和灵活，以支持极端的移动宽带服务、容量和超可靠性的连接。未来的无线技术使用毫米波载波频率上的新无线电（NR）波形，以及配备波束成形（BF）功能的有源大规模多输入多输出（mMIMO）天线，将导致网络从基于静态蜂窝的网络向基于动态波束的网络的范式转变。这种重大的技术转变要求将光通信的使用从网络的回程部分扩展到前传，以满足基站和网络数据中心之间的超宽带容量和超高数据速度要求，这是由增强型通用公共无线电接口eCPRI规定的。这一趋势将在下一代（6G）无线通信中进一步激增。本研究计划旨在为上述挑战发明和提出新的创新解决方案和无线电架构。这些系统的下一个进化步骤是通过将载波频率增加到更高的毫米波（mm-wave），以及通过在配备有波束形成能力的有源多天线发射机的不同无线电接入终端之间采用频率重用来扩大通信信号。这些有源天线对于克服在毫米波频率下由于高路径损耗而导致的信号传播问题至关重要。它们还提供了产生多波束的能力，可以引导到多用户。这种有源多天线收发器将允许动态和有效地共享频谱，在需要时和需要的地方产生更大的容量，同时具有更好的灵敏度、固有的内置干扰缓解、适应不同的信道和交通条件以及动态认知网络拓扑配置。功率效率、超宽带多天线发射机以及这种发射机对mMIMO架构的可扩展性将是本次拨款提案的重点，因为它们是确保下一代无线和卫星通信系统无缝部署和可持续性需要克服的主要挑战之一。该研究项目有潜力为未来宽带无线和卫星通信领域的HQP提供有价值的知识和培训；对加拿大信息通信技术产业至关重要。目前的拨款申请有四个与未来无线电系统收发器设计相关的主要目标：(i)有源BF-MIMO发射机的宽带和并发多波段信号处理能力；ii)采用光纤无线电（RoF）技术的可扩展宽带收发器设计；iii)采用GaN技术设计有源毫米波前端模块（FEM）；iv) mMIMO阵列天线的非线性失真和硬件损伤的缓解。

Future broadband wireless communications networks must be more ubiquitous and agile to support extreme mobile broadband service, capacity, and connectivity with an ultra-reliability. Future wireless technology using the New Radio (NR) waveform on millimeter-wave carrier's frequencies along with active massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) antennas equipped with beamforming (BF) capabilities, is leading to a paradigm shift in the network from static cell-based network to dynamic-beam based one. This significant technological shift calls to extend the use of optical communications from the backhaul segment of the network to its fronthaul for ultra-broadband capacity and ultra-high data speed requirements between base stations and the network data's centers as stipulated by the enhanced Common Public Radio Interface eCPRI. This trend will further surge for the next generation (6G) of wireless communications. This research proposal aims at inventing and proposing new innovative solutions and radio architectures for the mentioned challenges. The next evolutionary step for these systems is the broadening of communications signals by increasing the carrier's frequencies to higher millimeter waves (mm-waves) and by adopting frequency reuse across different radio access terminals equipped with active multi-antenna transmitters with beamforming capabilities. These active antennas are critical to overcoming the signal propagation issues due to high path loss at mm-wave frequencies. They also provide the ability to generate multi-beams that can be steered towards multi-users. Such active multi-antennas transceivers will allow the frequency spectrum to be shared dynamically and efficiently, yielding more capacity when it is needed and where it is required, along with better sensitivity, inherent built-in interference mitigation, and adaptation to varying channel and traffic conditions, as well as dynamic cognitive network topology configuration. Power efficiency, ultra-broadband multi-antenna transmitters and the scalability of such transmitters to mMIMO architectures will be the focus of this grant proposal since they are among the major challenges to overcome to ensure seamless deployment and sustainability of next-generation of wireless and satellite communication systems. This research program has the potential of generating valuable knowledge and training of HQP in the areas of future broadband wireless and satellite communications; critical to the Canadian ICT industry. The present grant application has four main objectives related to transceiver's design of future radio systems: (i) wide-band and concurrent multi-band signal-processing capabilities for active BF-MIMO Transmitters; ii) scalable broadband transceiver's design using Radio over Fiber (RoF) technologies; iii) design of active mm-wave Front-end Modules (FEM) using GaN technology; and iv) mitigation of nonlinear distortion and hardware impairments in mMIMO array antenna.