CAREER: Unifying Millimeter-wave Networking and Sensing using Commodity Backscatter

物联网（IoT）设备正在融入我们日常生活的方方面面，在物流、供应链、医疗保健、智慧城市、人机交互、跟踪、传感等方面都有应用。然而，为这些物联网设备提供高速无线连接仍然是一个具有挑战性的开放性问题。虽然下一代802.11ad/ay WiFi和5G蜂窝网络等非常高速的无线网络正在使用高频毫米波（mmWave）频谱进行部署，但由于其低功耗要求，当今的物联网设备（如蓝牙和rfid）仍然主要工作在较低的频率（低于6 GHz）。该项目的目的是开发商用毫米波后向散射的方法和工具，并使物联网设备能够在毫米波频率下工作。提议的毫米波后向散射将为数百万物联网设备提供高速、低功耗和低成本的毫米波无线连接。该项目将研究商用毫米波反向散射（称为mmID），并实现统一的毫米波网络和传感框架，其中(i) mmID设备可以集成到当今的毫米波网络中，以实现无缝的高速连接；（ii）通过密集部署的mmID物联网设备，可以提高毫米波网络的稳健性。该项目包括四个研究重点：(1)将开发稳健的反向散射通信技术，其中mmID标签可以利用现有的毫米波网络协议消息来调制其数据；(2)密集部署的毫米波反向散射将用于wlan的主动阻塞缓解和移动弹性；(3)通过符号转换技术和自干扰抑制，设计高速商用毫米波后向散射；(4)毫米波反向散射将被用于实现高精度和低成本的传感，并具有可访问性。拟议的毫米波后向散射技术和协议将针对新兴商用毫米波网络（如802.11ad/ay wlan和5G NR）进行设计、实施和评估。该项目提出了综合研究和教育计划，并开展了涉及少数族裔高中生和残疾大学生的外展活动。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices are being integrated into virtually every aspect of our daily lives with applications in logistics, supply chain, healthcare, smart cities, human-computer interaction, tracking, sensing, etc. However, providing high-speed wireless connectivity to these IoT devices remains a challenging open problem. While very high-speed wireless networks such as the next generation 802.11ad/ay WiFi and 5G cellular networks are being deployed using the high-frequency millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum, today’s IoT devices (such as Bluetooth and RFIDs) still primarily operate at lower frequencies (sub-6 GHz) due to their low power requirements. The aim of this project is to develop methods and tools for commodity mmWave backscattering and enable IoT devices to operate at mmWave frequencies. The proposed mmWave backscattering will enable high-speed, low-power, and low-cost mmWave wireless connectivity to millions of IoT devices.The project will investigate commodity mmWave backscatter (called mmIDs) and realize a unified mmWave networking and sensing framework where (i) the mmID devices can be integrated into today’s mmWave networks for their seamless high-speed connectivity and (ii) robustness of the mmWave networks can be improved through the presence of densely deployed mmID IoT devices. The project includes four research thrusts: (1) Robust backscatter communication techniques will be developed where mmID tags can exploit the existing mmWave networking protocol messages to modulate their data; (2) Densely deployed mmWave backscatters will be leveraged for proactive blockage mitigation and mobility resilience in WLANs; (3) A high-speed commodity mmWave backscatter will be devised through symbol translation techniques and self-interference mitigation; (4) The commodity mmWave backscatter will be exploited to enable high-accuracy and low-cost sensing with applications in accessibility. The proposed techniques and protocols for mmWave backscattering will be designed, implemented, and evaluated for emerging commodity mmWave networks such as 802.11ad/ay WLANs and 5G NR. The project presents integrated research and education plan with outreach activities involving high school students from underrepresented minority groups and undergraduate students with disabilities.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.