Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

In recent years, an increasing amount of the global IP traffic has been generated by consumers, which urges the growth in capacity and the reduction in latency. To meet the requirements, the 5th generation wireless technology is being studied to support 1000-fold gains in capacity, with connections for at least 100 billion devices, and a 10 Gb/s individual user experience capable of extremely low latency and response times. The proposed research focuses on the development of microwave photonic techniques for the 5th generation wireless systems. In particular, optical space-division multiplexing (SDM) based multi-input, multi-output orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (MIMO-OFDM) fiber wireless access architecture will be investigated. To reduce the system complexity and improve the system performance, the associated microwave and optical devices will be developed, in which photonic integration will play an important role. Specifically, hybrid integration of transmitters and receivers including laser sources, modulators and photodetectors will be investigated and developed. Hybrid optoelectronic oscillators as high quality microwave sources for microwave frequency up conversion will also be developed. Phased array beamforming based on true time delays using silicon-based tunable delay lines will also be investigate and developed. The proposed work will have dramatic impact on the 5th generation wireless systems. The new knowledge generated from this project and the training of highly qualified personnel associated to the different stages of the work will contribute to enhance Canada's global competitiveness, especially in information and communication technology sectors.