Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

In the digital society of the future, experts predict that over 50 billion devices will be equipped with sensing, communication, and processing capabilities, forming the ""Internet of Things."" In addition, mobile network traffic will increase dramatically (up to 1000 fold growth by 2020). Radically different paradigms will be required by the information and communication technology (ICT) sector to define, conceptualize, design, and realize low cost, power efficient communication devices, access and backhaul infrastructure, and network topologies: fifth-generation (5G) wireless technologies. 5G will enable applications that transcend traditional mobile wireless communication, with significant impacts on Canadian lives and the economy.Network densification will be key to realizing greater throughput, quality of experience and reliability for 5G, but will require the integration of multi-antenna technologies into base stations to reach its full potential. Base station technology will need to incorporate multi-functional, adaptive and highly integrated millimeter-wave massive multiple-input multiple-output beamforming transceivers. This project will investigate innovative strategies and techniques critical to the development of viable 5G transceiver hardware which will need to be incredibly power efficient, low cost and of small size as required by the diverse 5G use-cases identified to date, making transceiver design an exceedingly challenging task. Given the unprecedented level of complexity of the problem, it is of strategic importance to begin research immediately to ensure that Canada retains a scientific and economic edge. Skyworks and BlackBerry, our private sector partners, have assigned leading technical teams to work on this project. Reaping the benefits of this research within 5 to 7 years will coincide with the worldwide standardization of 5G, and will produce uniquely trained, highly qualified personnel to advance Canada's ICT sector at a critical time.