NSF-IITP: START6G -- Sub-THz Augmented Routing and Transmission for 6G

每秒太比特的数据速率将支持下一代无线蜂窝应用，包括扩展现实、全息、触觉反馈和无线认知。这些应用程序在一定程度上提供了为工作、教育和医疗保健创造身临其境体验的手段，这有助于弥合面对面互动和视频电话之间的体验差距。然而，要实现高数据速率，需要使用比目前用于蜂窝通信的更高的无线电频段。在过去的五年中，蜂窝通信已经采用了较低的毫米波频谱，这是指大约25 GHz到100 GHz的无线电频率。事实上，毫米波通信已经成为第五代蜂窝通信系统的决定性特征之一。要达到每秒太比特的数据速率，就需要100千兆赫以上的更高带宽，也就是所谓的次太赫兹频段。该合作项目建立了基础，将有助于实现次太赫兹通信和推动未来的无线技术。它开发了新的硬件和算法，帮助创建所需的高数据速率通信链路，以服务于上面强调的应用程序。例如，它开发了一种技术，通过智能反射表面和可重构天线阵列来测量环境，帮助亚太赫兹通信信号更好地绕过障碍物。该项目的成果将有助于开发有益于个人通信、安全应用和工业部署的新型无线技术。工业影响和技术转移将通过与第六代北卡罗来纳项目的合作伙伴的频繁沟通来实现。该项目将引导更多的本科生和研究生掌握新的重要无线通信技术。6G次太赫兹增强路由和传输是北卡罗来纳州立大学（NC State）和延世大学（YSU）无线通信专家之间的合作。它解决了在次太赫兹频率下多输入多输出（MIMO）通信的反射表面和可重构阵列的设计。它设计了以绕过障碍物的方式配置由这些阵列形成或反射的光束的方法。它创建了利用阵列中可重构性的新水平的算法，以获得更高的吞吐量和更健壮的通信。最后，建立了亚太赫兹通信的联合实时硬件（H/W）和软件（S/W）试验台。该项目的独特之处在于采用多域方法改善亚太赫兹通信。智力上的优点体现在几个方面。(a)由最先进的超材料/超装置构成的智能反射面。(b)具有机械和电气控制的适应性结构的可重构天线阵列。(c)利用信道映射信息的定向波束初始接入和波束路由算法。(d)可重构天线阵列模型及其性能限制。(e)利用真实时间延迟来重新配置这些阵列以支持高带宽的算法。(f)一套评估方案，测试已开发的硬件和算法。直接影响将是确定用于通信和反射应用的大型阵列的最相关方法，以及利用这些阵列增强次太赫兹频率通信的算法。长期影响将是作为6G无线通信一部分的次太赫兹通信的发展和实现。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。

Terabit-per-second data rates will enable next-generation wireless cellular applications, including extended reality, holography, haptic feedback, and wireless cognition. These applications provide, in part, the means to create an immersive experience for work, education, and healthcare which helps to bridge the gap in experience between in-person interaction and video telephony. Achieving the high data rates, though, requires going to higher radio frequency bands than are currently used for cellular communications. In the last five years, cellular communication has embraced the lower millimeter wave spectrum, which refers to radio frequencies from about 25 GHz to 100 GHz. Indeed, millimeter wave communication has become one of the defining features of fifth generation cellular communication systems. Going to terabit-per-second data rates will require higher bandwidths that are available above 100 GHz, in what is known as the sub-THz band. This collaborative project establishes fundamentals that will help realize sub-THz communication and drive the future of wireless technology. It develops new hardware and algorithms that help to create the required high data rate communication links to serve the applications highlighted above. For example, it develops technology that helps sub-THz communication signals better go around obstacles, by instrumenting the environment with smart reflective surfaces and reconfigurable antenna arrays. The results of the project will contribute to the development of new wireless technologies that are beneficial for personal communication, safety applications and industrial deployments. Industry impact and technology transfer will occur through frequent communication with the partners of the sixth generation North Carolina program. The project will lead to more undergraduate and graduate students with expertise on new and important technologies for wireless communications.Sub-THz Augmented Routing and Transmission for 6G is a collaboration among experts in wireless communications at North Carolina State University (NC State) and Yonsei University (YSU). It addresses the design of reflective surfaces and reconfigurable arrays for multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication at sub-THz frequencies. It devises methods for configuring the beams formed or reflected from those arrays in a way that routes around obstacles. It creates algorithms that exploit new levels of reconfigurability in the arrays to obtain higher throughput and more robust communications. Finally, it results in the creation of joint real-time hardware (H/W) and software (S/W) testbeds for sub-THz communications. The uniqueness of this project lies in the multi-domain approach for improving sub-THz communications. The intellectual merit will occur in several directions. (a) Intelligent reflective surfaces constructed from state-of-the-art meta-materials / meta-devices. (b) Reconfigurable antenna arrays with adaptable structures that are mechanically and electrically controlled. (c) Directional-beam-based initial access and beam routing algorithms that leverage channel map information. (d) Models of reconfigurable antennas arrays and performance limits of those arrays. (e) Algorithms that leverage true time delays to reconfigure those arrays to support high bandwidths. (f) A suite of evaluation scenarios that test the developed hardware and algorithms. The immediate impact will be to identify the most relevant approaches for enabling large arrays for communication and reflective applications, as well as algorithms that leverage those arrays to enhance communication at sub-THz frequencies. The long-term impact will be in the development and realization of sub-THz communication as part of 6G wireless communications.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.