CAREER: Towards Green Communications Using an Information-Lens: Foundations of the Joint Design of Communication Strategies and Circuits

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA

Investigators

Abstract

This research project aims to develop a system-level theory of energy efficient communication that incorporates the energy consumed in transmission as well as in the supporting transmitter/receiver circuitry. The existing theoretical foundation that guides the design of practical communication systems -- traditional information theory -- focuses almost exclusively on the transmit energy. For many modern short-distance communication systems, however, the energy consumed in the processing circuitry dominates over the transmit energy. The proposed research will advance the existing theory and practice by examining flows of information in the supporting circuitry in order to obtain a fundamental understanding of total (transmit + circuit) energy. A three-layer approach will be adopted to reduce energy consumption: (i) The Foundational Layer for expanding the frontiers of traditional information theory by incorporating processing energy at the transmitting and receiving ends; (ii) The Design Layer for novel designs of strategies including error-correcting codes that minimize the total energy; and (iii) The Validation Layer for assessing the energy reductions for various applications through strategies proposed in the Design Layer. Applications ranging from education, healthcare, manufacturing, and commerce today rely on uninterrupted and ubiquitous connectivity. Consequently, it has become increasingly important to keep the energy consumed in communication networks low, both for improving battery life of wireless devices and for sustainability of high-energy wired communication (such as ethernet links in data centers). Broadly speaking, the traditional design approach follows a "division-of-labor": the transmission strategy is first chosen to best approach the information-theoretic limits on minimum transmit energy, and then the most energy-efficient circuits are built to support the chosen strategy. The proposed research rethinks this division-of-labor by jointly designing the transmission strategy and circuits to maximize system-level energy efficiency. This research necessitates simplification and synthesis of concepts in communication, computation, and circuits. The project incorporates several educational and outreach efforts, including organizing interactive workshops for K-12 students and developing new material for both theoretical and experimental classes towards educating cross-disciplinary leaders not just in research, but also in industry where such education is essential for increased innovation.