I-Corps: NextG Wireless Communications

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是无线通信的扩展，预计将成为无线网络运营商和国防承包商的宝贵资源。联邦通信委员会（FCC）拍卖了宝贵的无线电波许可证，可用于构建更快、更强大的5G网络。 最近的FCC拍卖筹集了229亿美元。利用所提出的技术，无线网络运营商可以使用其最昂贵的频谱许可证来使容量翻倍，并实现其客户群和数据速率扩展的未来增长。 这个I-Corps项目是基于技术的发展，以扩大未来的无线网络。无线设备的快速增长导致了低于6 GHz的“传统”频段的频谱稀缺。虽然毫米波频谱丰富，无线的未来依赖于移动到毫米波频段，但由于高度散射的城市环境的有利物理特性，传统频率对于通信仍然很重要。因此，商业、公共安全和军事系统将始终需要低于6 GHz的频段。带内全双工（IBFD）无线电可以在相同带宽上同时发送和接收（星星）两个信息承载信号，从而有效地使操作带宽和无线信道的容量加倍。IBFD为传统频谱带中的无线通信提供了优势。然而，IBFD遭受自干扰（SI）（由于发射机信号泄漏到接收机而遮蔽感兴趣信号（SOI））。由于互耦合（MC）（由于来自相邻天线元件的传输而遮蔽SOI），IBFD在多输入和多输出（MIMO）无线电中尤其具有挑战性。能够在MIMO无线电中执行星星的实用和低复杂度设计对IBFD的未来至关重要。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。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the expansion of wireless communications that are expected to be a valuable resource to wireless network operators and defense contractors. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auctions valuable airwave licenses that can be used to build faster and more powerful 5G networks. A recent FCC auction raised $22.9 billion. With the proposed technology, wireless network operators may use their most expensive spectrum licenses to double capacity and enable future growth of their customer base and data rate expansions. This I-Corps project is based on the development of technology to expand future wireless networks. The rapid growth in wireless devices has caused a spectral scarcity in sub-6 GHz “legacy” bands. Although the mm-wave spectrum is abundant and the future of wireless relies on moving to mm-wave bands, the legacy frequencies remain important for communications due to favorable physics for highly scattering urban environments. Consequently, there will always be demand for the sub-6 GHz spectral band from commercial, public safety, and military systems. In-band full duplex (IBFD) radios can simultaneously transmit and receive (STAR) two information-carrying signals over the same bandwidth, thus effectively doubling the bandwidth of operation and the capacity of the wireless channel. IBFD offers an advantage for wireless communications in legacy spectral bands. However, IBFD suffers from self-interference (SI) (shadowing the signal of interest (SOI) due to transmitter signal leakage to the receiver). The IBFD is especially challenging in multiple-input and multiple-output (MIMO) radios due to mutual coupling (MC) (shadowing the SOI due to transmission from neighboring antenna elements). Practical and low-complex designs capable of performing STAR in MIMO radios are crucial for the future of IBFD.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.