| NSF Org: |
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | December 7, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | December 7, 2015 |
| Award Number: | 1602173 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Thyagarajan Nandagopal
CNS Division Of Computer and Network Systems CSE Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering |
| Start Date: | December 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | November 30, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $98,094.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $98,094.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
70 WASHINGTON SQ S NEW YORK NY US 10012-1019 (212)998-2121 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
NY US 10012-1019 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Networking Technology and Syst |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.070 |
ABSTRACT
With the severe spectrum shortage in conventional cellular bands, millimeter wave (mmWave) frequencies between 30 and 300 GHz have been attracting growing attention as a possible candidate for next-generation micro- and pico-cellular wireless networks. The mmWave bands offer orders of magnitude greater spectrum than current cellular allocations and enables very high-dimensional antenna arrays for further gains via beamforming and spatial multiplexing. However, mmWave cellular communication is still very much in its infancy, and there is an urgent need for fully-programmable research platforms to enable the research and development needed to bring these systems to reality. The project aims to develop a fully-programmable research platform that allows for flexible experimentation with millimeter-wave systems dealing with frequencies above 25 GHz. The hardware components of the platform will be made available to researchers across the United States at deeply discounted rates. The availability of this hardware, combined with the free and open-source implementation will enable the larger wireless networking research community to greatly benefit from this platform.
The platform involves integrating SiBeam's Sil6342 phased array antenna system with National Instruments' powerful PXI system, to create a fully programmable and modular SDR. This platform will support 1 GHz bandwidth, and allow a latched and timed digital control of the phased array with sub-microsecond accuracy. The entire implementation will be open-source, and made publically available for free. There are many projects that will be enabled by this platform: a) dynamic channel sounding; b) study of beam-forming techniques; c) design and testing of MAC protocols that rely on beam-forming and intermittency; d) study of new PHY layer modulation and coding techniques; etc.
PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The design and development of 5G cellular systems hinges on the availability of a software defined radio (SDR) platform consisting of a high-bandwidth baseband processor integrated with an electrically steerable phased array antenna system operating over mmWave frequencies. The advantage of the phased array front-end is that beam-steering can be done very quickly (at least in the order of tens of microseconds), as opposed to conventional prototyping systems where the horn antennas are rotated mechanically. This platform (the main outcome of this grant) has been developed by a collaboration between National Instruments (NI) and NYU, and is now available to researchers in both academia and the industry.
One of the key challenges in phased array systems is the characterization of the arrays, and the measurement of their radiation patterns. We have developed software (using time-gating techniques) to perform these measurements, without the need of expensive anechoic chambers or other specialized equipment.
Further, this platform has already been used by NYU to perform dynamic mmWave channel measurements. An important challenge in mmWave systems is the design of beam-tracking and beam-switching techniques to overcome the sharp drop in received signal strength caused by dynamic blocking events. These measurements are critical in understanding the system-level impact of blocking events, as well as in the design of techniques to maintain connectivity under these dynamic scenarios. These measurements will also help in network planning and base-station deployment use cases.
This platform is now available to researchers in academia and industry. The hardware is made by SiBeam and NI, and the software has been developed by NI and NYU. This integrated platform will help other researchers quickly prototype their own channel measurement and data-link systems by making modifications to the code in this platform. The software is implemented entirely in LabVIEW, and uses the real-time (RT) and FPGA modules. Finally, this platform will be invaluable in training the next generation of wireless engineers, especially in the 5G eco-system and beyond, where the US is the global leader.
Last Modified: 03/07/2017
Modified by: Sundeep Rangan
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