Collaborative Research: FuSe: Collaborative Optically Disaggregated Arrays of Extreme-MIMO Radio Units (CODAeMIMO)

NonTechnical:

This research aims to create a new set of technologies enabling collaborative optically disaggregated extreme multiple input multiple output (CODAeMIMO) high-capacity communication and high-fidelity sensing systems. The researched technology stack spans novel cell-free collaborative extreme MIMO algorithms and communication infrastructure concepts enabled by new optically disaggregated array architectures, to electronic-photonic links and new fundamental circuit and device components – all optimized to enable the required communication and sensing system scalability.

The research explores the design of future dense, large-scale extreme MIMO communications and sensing platforms, enabling significant advances in the array power, size and signal fidelity/processing capability, by designing electronic-photonic systems-on-chip (EPSoCs) that enable direct connection of mm-wave signals from antenna arrays to the central processing hub nodes. The EPSoCs enable inexpensive, collaborative, disaggregated arrays in a new cell-free architecture paving the way to a new generation of communication systems with significantly higher spectrum utilization, through larger number of users and higher spatial utilization.

This collaborative multi-disciplinary work will educate a unique crop of engineers and scientists that cross the boundaries of communication systems design for mm-wave, extreme MIMO and large-scale phase-array beamformers, and electronic-photonic systems and devices, which are in severe demand for building advanced next-generation wireless systems. The Principal Investigators have an established track record of direct engagement with high-school students providing summer internships at Berkeley Wireless Research Center and exemplary undergraduate research activities at Boston University.

The goal is to utilize these exciting research directions with big social impact outcomes to attract underrepresented students to undergraduate education in engineering. The educational and outreach activities will ensure early exposure and continued training of new generation of leaders in this field, from K-12, through undergraduate and graduate studies, and continuing workforce education, with special focus on underrepresented students.

This research approach will utilize advanced monolithic electronics-photonics integration in a single RF photonic EPSoC in advanced high-volume manufacturing platforms like 45nm SOI CMOS. At the core of the researched approach is the demonstration of mm-wave electronic-photonic integrated circuit functions. At the device level, the approach will demonstrate efficient “photonic molecule” electro-optic modulators based on coupled active silicon microrings, which provide electro-optic signal conversion efficiencies 15-50dB higher than conventional silicon photonic microring (and Mach-Zehnder) modulators.

The goal of the effort is to develop the advanced photonic and circuit components for the researched antenna-to-photons link architecture as well as provide an experimental demonstration of the researched wavelength-division multiplexed analog photonic link prototype featuring the advanced photonic components and mm-wave circuits specifically tuned and monolithically integrated with these photonic components. The effort will also produce scalable device and link models correlated with the experimental data to enable engineering of larger array prototypes and development of collaborative, distributed extreme MIMO algorithms and system-level architectures.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.