Regulatory and Policy Implications of Emerging Technologies to Spectrum Management

This paper provides an overview of the policy implications of technological developments, and how these technologies can accommodate an increased level of market competition. It is based on the work carried out in the SPORT VIEWS (Spectrum Policies and Radio Technologies Viable In Emerging Wireless Societies) research project for the European Commission (FP6)spectrum, new radio technologies, UWB, SDR, cognitive radio, Telecommunications, regulation, Networks, Interconnection

Full-Duplex Wireless for 6G: Progress Brings New Opportunities and Challenges

The use of in-band full-duplex (FD) enables nodes to simultaneously transmit and receive on the same frequency band, which challenges the traditional assumption in wireless network design. The full-duplex capability enhances spectral efficiency and decreases latency, which are two key drivers pushing the performance expectations of next-generation mobile networks. In less than ten years, in-band FD has advanced from being demonstrated in research labs to being implemented in standards and products, presenting new opportunities to utilize its foundational concepts. Some of the most significant opportunities include using FD to enable wireless networks to sense the physical environment, integrate sensing and communication applications, develop integrated access and backhaul solutions, and work with smart signal propagation environments powered by reconfigurable intelligent surfaces. However, these new opportunities also come with new challenges for large-scale commercial deployment of FD technology, such as managing self-interference, combating cross-link interference in multi-cell networks, and coexistence of dynamic time division duplex, subband FD and FD networks.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figures, accepted to an IEEE Journa

The development of a node for a hardware reconfigurable parallel processor

This dissertation concerns the design and implementation of a node for a hardware reconfigurable parallel processor. The hardware that was developed allows for the further development of a parallel processor with configurable hardware acceleration. Each node in the system has a standard microprocessor and reconfigurable logic device and has high speed communications channels for inter-node communication. The design of the node provided high-speed serial communications channels allowing the implementation of various network topographies. The node also provided a PCI master interface to provide an external interface and communicate with local nodes on the bus. A high speed RlSC processor provided communication and system control functions and the reconfigurable logic device provided communication interfaces and data processing functions. The node was designed and implemented as a PCI card that interfaced a standard PCI bus. VHDL designs for logic devices that provided system support were developed, VHDL designs for the reconfigurable logic FPGA and software including drivers and system software were written for the node. The 64-bit version Linux operating system was then ported to the processor providing a UNIX environment for the system. The node functioned as specified and parallel and hardware accelerated processing was demonstrated. The hardware acceleration was shown to provide substantial performance benefits for the system

NASA Automated Rendezvous and Capture Review. Executive summary

In support of the Cargo Transfer Vehicle (CTV) Definition Studies in FY-92, the Advanced Program Development division of the Office of Space Flight at NASA Headquarters conducted an evaluation and review of the United States capabilities and state-of-the-art in Automated Rendezvous and Capture (AR&C). This review was held in Williamsburg, Virginia on 19-21 Nov. 1991 and included over 120 attendees from U.S. government organizations, industries, and universities. One hundred abstracts were submitted to the organizing committee for consideration. Forty-two were selected for presentation. The review was structured to include five technical sessions. Forty-two papers addressed topics in the five categories below: (1) hardware systems and components; (2) software systems; (3) integrated systems; (4) operations; and (5) supporting infrastructure

Convergent Communication, Sensing and Localization in 6G Systems: An Overview of Technologies, Opportunities and Challenges

Herein, we focus on convergent 6G communication, localization and sensing systems by identifying key technology enablers, discussing their underlying challenges, implementation issues, and recommending potential solutions. Moreover, we discuss exciting new opportunities for integrated localization and sensing applications, which will disrupt traditional design principles and revolutionize the way we live, interact with our environment, and do business. Regarding potential enabling technologies, 6G will continue to develop towards even higher frequency ranges, wider bandwidths, and massive antenna arrays. In turn, this will enable sensing solutions with very fine range, Doppler, and angular resolutions, as well as localization to cm-level degree of accuracy. Besides, new materials, device types, and reconfigurable surfaces will allow network operators to reshape and control the electromagnetic response of the environment. At the same time, machine learning and artificial intelligence will leverage the unprecedented availability of data and computing resources to tackle the biggest and hardest problems in wireless communication systems. As a result, 6G will be truly intelligent wireless systems that will provide not only ubiquitous communication but also empower high accuracy localization and high-resolution sensing services. They will become the catalyst for this revolution by bringing about a unique new set of features and service capabilities, where localization and sensing will coexist with communication, continuously sharing the available resources in time, frequency, and space. This work concludes by highlighting foundational research challenges, as well as implications and opportunities related to privacy, security, and trust

Seven Defining Features of Terahertz (THz) Wireless Systems: A Fellowship of Communication and Sensing

Wireless communication at the terahertz (THz) frequency bands (0.1-10THz) is viewed as one of the cornerstones of tomorrow's 6G wireless systems. Owing to the large amount of available bandwidth, THz frequencies can potentially provide wireless capacity performance gains and enable high-resolution sensing. However, operating a wireless system at the THz-band is limited by a highly uncertain channel. Effectively, these channel limitations lead to unreliable intermittent links as a result of a short communication range, and a high susceptibility to blockage and molecular absorption. Consequently, such impediments could disrupt the THz band's promise of high-rate communications and high-resolution sensing capabilities. In this context, this paper panoramically examines the steps needed to efficiently deploy and operate next-generation THz wireless systems that will synergistically support a fellowship of communication and sensing services. For this purpose, we first set the stage by describing the fundamentals of the THz frequency band. Based on these fundamentals, we characterize seven unique defining features of THz wireless systems: 1) Quasi-opticality of the band, 2) THz-tailored wireless architectures, 3) Synergy with lower frequency bands, 4) Joint sensing and communication systems, 5) PHY-layer procedures, 6) Spectrum access techniques, and 7) Real-time network optimization. These seven defining features allow us to shed light on how to re-engineer wireless systems as we know them today so as to make them ready to support THz bands. Furthermore, these features highlight how THz systems turn every communication challenge into a sensing opportunity. Ultimately, the goal of this article is to chart a forward-looking roadmap that exposes the necessary solutions and milestones for enabling THz frequencies to realize their potential as a game changer for next-generation wireless systems.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure

Convergent communication, sensing and localization in 6g systems: An overview of technologies, opportunities and challenges

Herein, we focus on convergent 6G communication, localization and sensing systems by identifying key technology enablers, discussing their underlying challenges, implementation issues, and recommending potential solutions. Moreover, we discuss exciting new opportunities for integrated localization and sensing applications, which will disrupt traditional design principles and revolutionize the way we live, interact with our environment, and do business. Regarding potential enabling technologies, 6G will continue to develop towards even higher frequency ranges, wider bandwidths, and massive antenna arrays. In turn, this will enable sensing solutions with very fine range, Doppler, and angular resolutions, as well as localization to cm-level degree of accuracy. Besides, new materials, device types, and reconfigurable surfaces will allow network operators to reshape and control the electromagnetic response of the environment. At the same time, machine learning and artificial intelligence will leverage the unprecedented availability of data and computing resources to tackle the biggest and hardest problems in wireless communication systems. As a result, 6G will be truly intelligent wireless systems that will provide not only ubiquitous communication but also empower high accuracy localization and high-resolution sensing services. They will become the catalyst for this revolution by bringing about a unique new set of features and service capabilities, where localization and sensing will coexist with communication, continuously sharing the available resources in time, frequency, and space. This work concludes by highlighting foundational research challenges, as well as implications and opportunities related to privacy, security, and trust

A Comprehensive Overview on 5G-and-Beyond Networks with UAVs: From Communications to Sensing and Intelligence

Due to the advancements in cellular technologies and the dense deployment of cellular infrastructure, integrating unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) into the fifth-generation (5G) and beyond cellular networks is a promising solution to achieve safe UAV operation as well as enabling diversified applications with mission-specific payload data delivery. In particular, 5G networks need to support three typical usage scenarios, namely, enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC), and massive machine-type communications (mMTC). On the one hand, UAVs can be leveraged as cost-effective aerial platforms to provide ground users with enhanced communication services by exploiting their high cruising altitude and controllable maneuverability in three-dimensional (3D) space. On the other hand, providing such communication services simultaneously for both UAV and ground users poses new challenges due to the need for ubiquitous 3D signal coverage as well as the strong air-ground network interference. Besides the requirement of high-performance wireless communications, the ability to support effective and efficient sensing as well as network intelligence is also essential for 5G-and-beyond 3D heterogeneous wireless networks with coexisting aerial and ground users. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive overview of the latest research efforts on integrating UAVs into cellular networks, with an emphasis on how to exploit advanced techniques (e.g., intelligent reflecting surface, short packet transmission, energy harvesting, joint communication and radar sensing, and edge intelligence) to meet the diversified service requirements of next-generation wireless systems. Moreover, we highlight important directions for further investigation in future work.Comment: Accepted by IEEE JSA