Grant: Idea to Innovation

This project will develop a groundbreaking Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output (MIMO) smart antenna system based on the new Composite Right/Left-Handed (CRLH) metamaterial leaky-wave antenna (LWA) technology for enhanced wireless communication performances. The proposed system will incorporate a DSP interface controlling the LWAs to dynamically scan the entire 3D space in order lock in real-time onto the optimal channel of the scattering (and possibly mobile) environment. This operation will be enabled by the unique features of smart CRLH LWAs, which provide pencil-beam electronic scanning, using varactors, while requiring only a small footprint and necessitating no feeding network, in contrast to conventional array approaches. This system will offer radical improvements in the key performance attributes of emergent MIMO technology, including reduced power consumption, improved compactness, and enhanced radiation pattern diversity leading to higher data throughput and higher channel reliability for the end-user. The innovation and underlying technology developed in this project will be commercially exploited with the recently incorporated start-up venture ScisWave Corp.