SWIFT: Synergy and Coexistence of Millimeter Wave Wireless Communications, Imaging, and Localization

由于无线信号在大多数环境中的混沌传播以及用户自身的未知位置，发起无线用户和设备之间的通信链路是一个复杂且需要资源的过程。如果通信系统具有周围环境的地图（例如，建筑物、树木）和无线设备的位置。该项目研究了未来在毫米波（mm波）频率下运行的通信系统，这些系统可能具有创建周围环境的3D地图所需的资源。然而，毫米波信号（30 GHz至300 GHz）的传播距离比低频无线电波短得多。因此，为了确保足够的接收信号功率，在发射机和接收机处通常都需要大量的天线。如此丰富的频谱和天线数量（例如，天线阵列、元表面）可以用于常规数据通信之外的应用，并扩展到成像、感测和精确定位。更有趣的是，可以利用通信、成像和本地化之间的协同作用来克服这三个系统各自面临的挑战。该项目还将强调教育更广泛的高中生，本科生和研究生。通过使用增强现实（AR）耳机，学生将实现软件，允许在真实的世界中可视化毫米波成像功能。此外，从该项目的测量活动中收集的数据将被适当格式化并发布在公共数据库（DeepSense数据集）上，供科学和工程界的其他研究人员使用。在过去的几年里，利用毫米波频段进行无线通信、成像和定位已经吸引了大量的研究兴趣。虽然第五代（5G）无线通信正在成为现实，但未来的无线通信系统预计将不仅仅是通信。未来无线系统的大绝对带宽、超大孔径和极窄的笔形波束提供了时间和空间上丰富的信息，以将应用扩展到无线通信之外的成像/传感和精确定位。受这种潜力的推动，该项目寻求对毫米波无线通信、成像和定位方法之间的协同作用有一个基本的理解，以提高1）通过在给定的通信频带中启用多个应用来提高频谱使用效率，以及2）通过合作技术提高单个应用的性能。该项目还将开发利用通信信号和系统进行成像和定位的方法。这涉及开发新的图像重建方法，允许毫米波成像系统从单个视点（一个基站）或多个视点创建视线（LoS）和非视线（NLoS）区域的3D地图。此外，该项目还将开发NLoS定位算法和低开销信道获取以及波束跟踪方法，利用毫米波成像工具并利用有关周围环境的成像信息。该奖项反映了NSF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。

Initiating a communication link between wireless users and devices is a complicated and resource-demanding process due to the chaotic propagation of wireless signals in most environments and the unknown location of the users themselves. Establishing and maintaining a reliable wireless connection would be simpler if the communication system had a map of the surroundings (e.g., buildings, trees) and the location of the wireless devices. This project investigates future communication systems operating at millimeter-wave (mm-wave) frequencies that could have the necessary resources to create 3D maps of the surroundings. However, mm-wave signals (30 GHz to 300 GHz) travel much shorter distances than lower frequency radio waves. Thus, to ensure sufficient received signal power, a large number of antennas are usually needed at both the transmitter and the receiver. Such a wealth of spectrum and number of antennas (e.g., antenna arrays, meta-surfaces) can be leveraged for applications beyond regular data communications and extended to imaging, sensing, and precision localization. More interestingly, the synergy between communications, imaging, and localization can be leveraged to potentially overcome the challenges that each of the three systems faces. The project will also emphasize educating a broader audience of high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. With the use of augmented reality (AR) headsets, the students will implement software that allows the visualization of mm-wave imaging capabilities in the real world. Furthermore, the data collected from the measurement campaigns of this project will be appropriately formatted and published on a public database (DeepSense dataset) for other researchers in the scientific and engineering community. Exploiting the mm-wave frequency band for wireless communications, imaging, and localization has attracted significant research interest in the last few years. Although the 5th generation (5G) of wireless communications is becoming a reality, future wireless communication systems are expected to do more than just communications. The large absolute bandwidth, electrically large apertures, and extremely narrow pencil beams of future wireless systems provide temporal and spatially rich information to extend the applications beyond wireless communications into imaging/sensing and precision localization. Motivated by this potential, the project seeks to develop a fundamental understanding of the synergy between mm-wave wireless communications, imaging, and localization methods to improve 1) spectrum usage efficiency by enabling more than one application in a given communication band and 2) the performance of individual applications through cooperative techniques. The project will also develop approaches where communication signals and systems are utilized for imaging and localization. This involves developing new image reconstruction methods that allow mm-wave imaging systems to create 3D maps of both line-of-sight (LoS) and non-line-sight (NLoS) areas from a single viewpoint (one base station) or multiple viewpoints. Additionally, the project will develop NLoS localization algorithms and low-overhead channel acquisition and beam tracking approaches utilizing mm-wave imaging tools and leveraging the imaging information about the surrounding environment.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.