WINDASH · Wireless with Increased Network Density, Antennas, Spectrum and Heterogeneity

Wireless with Increased Network Density, Antennas, Spectrum and Heterogeneity

"This action studies models for the design of better wireless communications in the future. The H2020 ""Digital Agenda for Europe” Flagship Initiative aims at providing all EU citizens with Internet speeds above 30Mbps and above 50% households above 100Mbps. To reach all citizens and achieve the target rates, it is imperative that wireless cellular services increase their capacity. Wireless with Increased Network Density, Antennas, Spectrum and Heterogeneity (W.I.N.D.A.S.H.) comprises all means of capacity increase in the cellular industry. Network Density refers to the number of base stations per square kilometer. All the users in the area covered by a tower, called a cell, share its resources. Operators increase tower density reducing cell area to improve per-user rates. However, this increases interference and even the models traditionally used to analyze networks must be modified. Increasing the number of Antenna elements or effective area in an array generally enables radios to focus more signal power in the desired direction reducing interference in other directions or, alternatively, transmit different information in each antenna to increase rate. Citizens are familiar with 3 or 4 antenna WiFi-N routers, but in recent years the deployment of radios with hundreds of antennas is being considered. Telecommunication operators acquire transmission licenses for portions of the electromagnetic Spectrum. The more “bandwidth”, the more capacity in the channel. Nowadays capacity is principally increased via the acquisition of new spectrum. Operators expect to start using the mmWave band (30-300GHz), bid TV broadcasters out of their 700-800MHz license, and increase the bandwidth in the 800-2100MHz region to 100MHz. Out of these, only mmWave offers over 1GHz of bandwidth and can support multiple Gbps rates. Heterogeneity refers to the need to support devices of different characteristics. Small cells are deployed on top of, and without deactivating, the former large-area base stations. MmWave communications require massive antenna arrays to increase range. Increases in Density, Antennas and Spectrum have complex effects on each other, and on channel estimation and interference. In the past wireless communications, increasing these four D.A.S.H. factors were less appealing due to technical difficultis. However, current cellular wireless systems are very saturated. This project explores wireless network performance with wider bandwidths, massive antenna array architectures, and increasingly dense heterogeneous topologies. Through a better understanding of these growth vectors, we will pave the way for the design of new wireless networks and new communications services for EU citizens."

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз