AceLSAA · optimal design of Admixtures for concrete embedded Large Scale Antenna Array

optimal design of Admixtures for concrete embedded Large Scale Antenna Array

It is estimated that over 80% of mobile traffic takes place indoors, which is driven by the growing smart building, Internet of things (IoT), virtual reality (VR) and high definition video (HDV) applications. Multi-Input-Multi-Output (MIMO) technology has been widely studied during the last two decades and applied to many wireless standards since it can significantly improve the capacity of wireless systems. In a recent effort to achieve more dramatic gains on capacity, large scale antenna array (LSAA) has been introduced into cellular networks, where each base station (BS) is equipped with hundreds of antennas. Indoor small cell equipped with LSAAs is a promising technology to address capacity crunch problem in-building. However, in order to guarantee a low spatial correlation, the space intervals among antenna elements of the array have to be larger than half wavelength. LSAAs increase the physical dimension of the BS, generating negative consequences on weight and visual impact. The strict space constraints on antenna housing forces 5G/B5G LSAA design to exploit more advanced technologies to support a higher level of visually obscured integration in the natural surroundings of the users. A potential approach of deploying LSAAs indoors is to embed them into building structures, e.g., concrete walls. This approach has the following advantages. Firstly, concrete is widely used for essential structures such as walls and columns. Secondly, by embedding an antenna element in a dielectric medium, the electrical length of the antenna is reduced. With a larger dielectric constant, the concrete, as a dielectric material for dielectric embedded antenna can reduce the size of antenna element and antenna array. Therefore, in a limited space, more antenna elements can be employed to facilitate LSAA deployment. Thirdly, the approach facilitates the deployment of LSAAs and even distributed antenna systems through the 3D printing of concrete. Fourthly, the blockage of the surface at the backside reduces the interference to the adjacent cells. And finally, by embedding metamaterials in the concrete as perfect lens, the bandwidth and the directivity of the antenna array can be enhanced to improve the performance of wireless networks. This project addressed important challenges to embed LSAAs in concrete for the society. The objectives of this project are: 1) To assess the benefits and feasibility to embed LSAAs in building structures made of concrete; 2) To develop wireless performance metrics for concrete that can be used for concrete design; 3) To model concrete wireless performance metrics against admixture ratios and layouts; 4) To optimise ratios and layouts of admixtures to obtain desirable wireless and mechanical properties of concrete.

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