II-NEW: WiMi: A Reconfigurable Platform for Millimeter-Wave Wireless Networking and Sensing

University Of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI

Investigators

Abstract

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) radios will be a cornerstone of next-generation broadband cellular networks and gigabit-per-second (Gbps) WiFi networks. Commercialization of portable mmWave devices will also enable ubiquitous mmWave sensing applications, which used to be available only in dedicated environment for medical/security inspection. However, existing research of these prospects commonly rely on simulation or analytical models, which cannot reproduce the sophisticated characteristics of real mmWave radio environment. This proposal aims to overcome the barrier by establishing WiMi, a software-radio testbed to advance mmWave research and education. WiMi integrates programmable radio components, which allow flexible prototyping and testing of mmWave systems. WiMi will facilitate high-impact research and education in the domain of mmWave wireless networking and sensing. Its potential impacts include: (i) accelerating the development of the 5G broadband cellular networks and Gbps WiFi, which has potential to meet the 1000x increase of mobile data traffic; (ii) fostering cross-disciplinary research that involves communications theory, wireless networking, mobile sensing and biomedical engineering; (iii) encouraging reproducible, experimental-driven research in mmWave systems by disseminating the hardware/software components and test results; (iv) stimulating collaboration across multiple research institutions, and between universities and industrial partners; and (v) modernizing communications/networking courses with knowledge of mmWave communication and sensing systems, and promote hands-on experiences with a reconfigurable radio. This projects initiates a 3-year plan to build a full-fledged platform with novel baseband, 60 GHz & 80 GHz RF front-end, reconfigurable beamforming antenna, and 2x2 mmWave Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). The PIs will implement the plan via three major research thrusts: (i) Reconfigurable mmWave communication hardware, with gigabit samples per second baseband sampling/processing speed, 57-64 GHz and 81-86 GHz carrier frequencies, 2x2 MIMO and digitally steerable phased-array antenna. (ii) Software-defined signal processing modules and real-time MAC, running on a multi-core processor and an FPGA cluster. (iii) 60 GHz RF sensing APIs for object/human activity sensing and mmWave imaging using steerable beams. A combination of these elements will make WiMi a first and unique platform to benefit the mmWave wireless research community at large.