Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

Millimeter-wave (mmwave) communication technology (MCT) is key to unlocking new/expanded features and capabilities required by numerous domains including terrestrial and mobile satellite communication, autonomous vehicles, and augmented and virtual reality. Nevertheless, the full realization of these capabilities is predicated on the availability of commercially viable mmwave large-scale multiple antenna (LSMA) hardware capable of achieving ultra-reliable and efficient links for a wide range of MCT use cases. For example, mmwave LSMAs are expected to improve the precision of vehicle localisation by using multi-beamforming and to enable high-speed directed links between vehicle-to-everything. Similarly, mmwave LSMAs are compelling technology for AR and VR enabled applications in diverse sectors such as medicine, education, consumer retail, urban design, advanced manufacturing, and entertainment. ***Existing mmwave LSMA hardware is expensive, highly complex, and only allows for limited reconfigurability. In addition, research into MCT has largely relied on several optimistic simplifying assumptions including the existence of accurate channel state information and distortionless, low power, and low-cost mmwave LSMA hardware. Hence, preliminary commercial trials are not achieving the full potential of MCT and many experimental trials are yielding sub-optimal results in terms of cost, power consumption and quality of signal. Addressing these limitations will require significant advances in mmwave LSMA and baseband digital signal processing.***The requested equipment, a quad-channel high-performance streaming arbitrary waveform generator (HPS-AWG), is not accessible in Canada. Contrary to conventional AWGs, the requested equipment allows unprecedented capacity to generate and analyse non-repeating, high quality (12 bits) and wideband (5 GHz) signals for hours. When combined with existing equipment, the HPS-AWG will form a testbed that allows researchers to carry out comprehensive end-to-end over-the-air proof-of-concept validation of theoretical research outcomes. The high programming level of the modules will mean the testbed can be easily configured to support research into various aspects of MCT including millimeter-wave physical-layer link analysis, architecture and algorithms and baseband digital signal processing.***The requested equipment is critical to the internationally competitive research programs of the applicants. Outcomes of these programs (new analyses, models, algorithms and prototypes) are essential to the applicants' multinational industry partners. In addition, about 12 students and postdoctoral fellows will develop knowledge and practical skills at the very leading edge of the MCT evolution. The outcomes made possible with the requested equipment will help us realize the benefits of MCT to meet the staggering demands imposed by the digital transformation of service provision in the communication, transportation and entertainment sectors.