CAREER: Full-duplex wireless networks by means of reflected power: Theory and applications

University Of Illinois At Chicago, Chicago IL

Investigators

Abstract

One key limit to spectrum utilization efficiency involves the current practice of half-duplex communication, in which a node cannot transmit and receive on the same frequency at the same time. Some recent studies have provided experimental evidence and methodologies for full-duplex communication. To date, however, all full-duplex demonstrations have been predicated on the principle that the transmitter and the receiver must generate their own radio-carrier waves independently, which in practice results in a high level of self-interference at both nodes. The objective of this CAREER project is to create reliable full-duplex wireless networks by means of reflected power. This project will pursue backscatter modulation, where electromagnetic waves are modulated and reflected by the same antenna that receives them. Within this framework, the end-user receives a signal free of self-interference. This research offers a new paradigm for two-way wireless networks: rather than avoiding self-interference as in half-duplex -- or combating self-interference as in full-duplex -- nodes will re-use the received interfering radio-carrier waves to transfer information. The results of this analysis will advance the knowledge of antenna scattering for a wide range of applications. The proposed implementation in hardware will incite an exchange between algorithm innovation and hardware implementation, pushing the limit of spectrum-efficiency communication. The principal investigator will also embed the proposed research into pedagogy by creating a center of wireless communications at Purdue University Calumet. The center will provide a range of opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to gain direct experience in testing, evaluating, and improving backscatter modulation for full-duplex communications. Given the current pervasiveness of two-way wireless communication, the results of this research can be used to significantly increase the spectral efficiency of future wireless networks.