NSF GRANT 1908552

Synopsis

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) communication is a promising solution to the current global shortage of bandwidth created by the rapidly growing demand for mobile data. While channel modeling and propagation characteristics for mmWave transmissions are fairly well understood, transient channel characteristics including how the hand of a human blocks antennas in a handset requires new, detailed research. Further, the impact and nature of interference in the face of mmWave directional beamforming are yet to be well explored.

This project shall investigate transient channel characteristics and interference modeling will directly contribute to the realization of mmWave communications, which is envisioned not only for traditional fixed infrastructure cellular services but also for emerging, more prevalent, new service modes including unlicensed/licensed and mobile usage such as on buses, trains and cars, and peer to peer communications.

This proposal advances understanding fundamental aspects of mmWave communications such as:

• Characterization of transient physical effects in mmWave channels such as fading due to human hand, head and body placement when holding phones. This characterization will be carried out with extensive measurements using directional antennas and novel modeling methodology employing finite-state Markov models. These transient channel models will then be integrated into the open-source measurement-based channel simulation platform NYUSIM, which generates realistic mmWave channel impulse responses under a wide range of practical settings.
• Characterization of the interference in a mmWave cellular network and impact of signal and system factors such as the antenna array beam pattern, the MIMO transmission scheme, and its effects on the association of users connection to base stations in a dense mmWave network. The interference models are verified by comparing with a system simulation using stochastic geometry to model locations of users and base stations and using NUYSIM to generate realistic mmWave channels among all nodes.

Work in the project will integrate measurement, modeling, theory, and analysis to advance fundamental understanding of mmWave communications, providing a means towards designing and evaluating mmWave communication systems.

Learn More

View NYU Wireless project website:
https://wireless.engineering.nyu.edu/nsf-grant-1909206/

Watch Professor Ted Rappaport’s talk on “Spectrum Frontiers: Terahertz” presented during the ECE Graduate Seminar on Friday, March 12, 2021.
Watch Lecture

Personnel

Tufts University

PI: Prof. Mai Vu

Students:
Alireza Alizadeh

NYU WIRELESS

PI: Prof. Theodore S. Rappaport

Students:
Yunchou Xing
Ojas Kanhere
Shihao Ju
Dipankar Shakya

 

Recent Research Results

A. Alizadeh and M. Vu, “Reinforcement Learning for User Association and Handover in mmWave-enabled Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, accepted, to appear, 2022

A. Alizadeh, “Load Balancing User Association and Handover in Millimeter-Wave Enabled Wireless Networks,” PhD thesis, Tufts University, Jan. 2021

A. Alizadeh and M. Vu, “Distributed User Association in 5G Networks Using Early Acceptance Matching Games,” IEEE Transactions for Wireless Communications, Vol. 20, No. 4, pp. 2428 – 2441, April 2021 (DoI 10.1109/TWC.2020.3042393)

A. Alizadeh and M. Vu, “Multi-Armed Bandit Load Balancing User Association in 5G Cellular HetNets,” IEEE Global Communications Conf. (GLOBECOM), Taiwan, 2020

S. Ju, Y. Xing, O. Kanhere, and T. S. Rappaport. “3-D Statistical Indoor Channel Model for Millimeter-Wave and Sub-Terahertz Bands,” 2020 IEEE Global Communications conference (GLOBECOM),Taipei, Taiwan, Dec. 2020, pp 1-7. arXiv URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2009.12971

A. Alizadeh, M. Vu and T. S. Rappaport, “A Study of Interference Distributions in Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks,” 2019 IEEE International Conference on Microwaves, Antennas, Communications and Electronic Systems (COMCAS), Tel-Aviv, Israel, Nov. 2019, pp. 1-6. arXiv URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.05599

O. Kanhere and T. S. Rappaport, “Position Location for Futuristic Cellular Communications – 5G and Beyond,” in IEEE Communications Magazine, vol. 59, no. 1, pp. 70-75, January 2021. arXiv URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2102.12074

O. Kanhere, S. Goyal, M. Beluri, and T. S. Rappaport, “Target Localization using Bistatic and Multistatic Radar with 5G NRWaveform,” 2021 IEEE 93rd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring), April 2021, pp. 1-7 URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.034263

O. Kanhere, A. Chopra, A. Thornburg, T. S. Rappaport, and S. S. Ghassemzadeh “Performance Impact Analysis of BeamSwitching in Millimeter Wave Vehicular Communications,” 2021 IEEE 93rd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring), April 2021, pp. 1-7 URL:https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.03434

O. Kanhere and T. S. Rappaport, “Outdoor sub-THz Position Location and Tracking using Field Measurements at 142 GHz,”in 2021 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), June 2021, pp. 1–6. URL: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.05219.pdf

S. Ju and T. S. Rappaport, “140 GHz Urban Microcell Propagation Measurements for Spatial Consistency Modeling,” 2021 IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC) , Jun. 2021, pp. 1-6. URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.05496

Y. Xing and T. S. Rappaport, “Terahertz Wireless Communications: Research Issues and Challenges for Active and Passive Systems in Space and on the Ground above 100 GHz (Invited Paper),” submitted to 2021 IEEE Communications Letters, Feb. 2021, pp. 1-5 https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.00604

Y. Xing, T. S. Rappaport, and A. Ghosh, “Millimeter Wave and sub-THz Indoor Radio Propagation Channel Measurements, Models, and Comparisons in an Office Environment (Invited Paper),” submitted to 2021 IEEE Communications Letters, Feb. 2021, pp. 1-5.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.00385

Y. Xing and T. S. Rappaport, “Propagation Measurements and Path Loss Models for sub-THz in Urban Microcells,” 2021 IEEE International Conference on Communications, June 2021, pp. 1-6. https://arxiv.org/pdf/2103.01151.pdf

Y. Xing, F. Hsieh, A. Ghosh, and T. S. Rappaport, “High Altitude Platform Stations (HAPS): Architecture and System Performance,” 2021 IEEE 93rd Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC-Spring), April 2021, pp. 1-6. https://arxiv.org/abs/2103.03431

Broader Impact and Educational Plans

mmWave systems are envisioned for future cellular networks to meet the growing demands for high rate data mobile connectivity. This project provides modeling and analysis for mmWave communications, which leads to effective tools for the design and performance evaluation of 5G and future networks. As cellular systems are an integral part of modern society and economy, the project contributes consequential and significant societal and economic benefits. The impact and methodology are also widely applicable in other areas where mmWave communication holds strong promise, including connected vehicle networks, smart homes, and IoT networks, where not only centralized and planned communications but also unlicensed /licensed, mobile bases and peer-to-peer communications will flourish, and where mobile base stations, in busses, trains, cars, will become even more prevalent than today’s fixed cellular infrastructure.

Broad impact on education and outreach: The proposed research will extend and expand the utility and value of an already popular open-source channel modeling tool, NYUSIM, which has been developed by past NSF funding and is in use by about 80,000 engineers world-wide. The project also provides students with research opportunities in the burgeoning area of mmWave communications, with in-depth training for PhD students to equip them with necessary technical and research skills for the industry. Project work will be showcased at the Annual Brooklyn 5G Summit, where the PIs and students will meet and discuss their findings with the international wireless research community and many companies active in building 5G systems and products.

Involvement of women and minorities: The PIs place a strong emphasis on involvement of women and minorities by paying particular attention to recruiting qualified PhD students. PI Vu has been advising three female PhD students in her group, two has graduated with a PhD degree. PI Rappaport works at NYU which has one of the highest percentage of women engineering students in the country, at over 30% for undergraduate ECE, and nearly the same level at the graduate level, such that this work will have a high likelihood of involving women researchers.

Undergraduate research: PI Vu has been involving undergraduate students in her research activities and help advising senior design projects. During 2014-15, PI Vu advised a group of four senior undergraduates in a project that uses WiFi signal to perform indoor positioning, resulting in a paper at the IEEE PIMRC in August 2015 [148], and a working positioning mobile app with an average accuracy of 2.6 meters. PI Vu also guided another senior design project during 2015-16 on a wireless device for secure garage opener, with a successful proof-of-concept design and a patent filing. Both PIs plan to recruit undergraduate students through NSF REU supplements, which will be sought to continue these efforts on engaging undergraduates in research activities.