10 research outputs found
AirSync: Enabling Distributed Multiuser MIMO with Full Spatial Multiplexing
The enormous success of advanced wireless devices is pushing the demand for
higher wireless data rates. Denser spectrum reuse through the deployment of
more access points per square mile has the potential to successfully meet the
increasing demand for more bandwidth. In theory, the best approach to density
increase is via distributed multiuser MIMO, where several access points are
connected to a central server and operate as a large distributed multi-antenna
access point, ensuring that all transmitted signal power serves the purpose of
data transmission, rather than creating "interference." In practice, while
enterprise networks offer a natural setup in which distributed MIMO might be
possible, there are serious implementation difficulties, the primary one being
the need to eliminate phase and timing offsets between the jointly coordinated
access points.
In this paper we propose AirSync, a novel scheme which provides not only time
but also phase synchronization, thus enabling distributed MIMO with full
spatial multiplexing gains. AirSync locks the phase of all access points using
a common reference broadcasted over the air in conjunction with a Kalman filter
which closely tracks the phase drift. We have implemented AirSync as a digital
circuit in the FPGA of the WARP radio platform. Our experimental testbed,
comprised of two access points and two clients, shows that AirSync is able to
achieve phase synchronization within a few degrees, and allows the system to
nearly achieve the theoretical optimal multiplexing gain. We also discuss MAC
and higher layer aspects of a practical deployment. To the best of our
knowledge, AirSync offers the first ever realization of the full multiuser MIMO
gain, namely the ability to increase the number of wireless clients linearly
with the number of jointly coordinated access points, without reducing the per
client rate.Comment: Submitted to Transactions on Networkin
Time-walk and jitter correction in SNSPDs at high count rates
Superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) are a leading
detector type for time correlated single photon counting, especially in the
near-infrared. When operated at high count rates, SNSPDs exhibit increased
timing jitter caused by internal device properties and features of the RF
amplification chain. Variations in RF pulse height and shape lead to variations
in the latency of timing measurements. To compensate for this, we demonstrate a
calibration method that correlates delays in detection events with the time
elapsed between pulses. The increase in jitter at high rates can be largely
canceled in software by applying corrections derived from the calibration
process. We demonstrate our method with a single-pixel tungsten silicide SNSPD
and show it decreases high count rate jitter. The technique is especially
effective at removing a long tail that appears in the instrument response
function at high count rates. At a count rate of 11.4 MCounts/s we reduce the
full width at one percent maximum level (FW1%M) by 45%. The method therefore
enables certain quantum communication protocols that are rate-limited by the
(FW1%M) metric to operate almost twice as fast. \c{opyright} 2022. All rights
reserved.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Infrastructure Strategy to Enable Optical Communications for Next-Generation Heliophysics Missions
To expand frontiers and achieve measurable progress, instruments such as
hyperspectral imagers are increased in resolution, field of view, and spectral
resolution and range, leading to dramatically higher data volumes.
Increasingly, data need to be returned from greater distances, ranging from the
Sun-earth L1/ L2 points at 1.5 million km, to L4/L5 halo orbits at 1 AU, to
several AU in the case of planetary probes. Optical communications can
significantly reduce resource competition, requiring significantly fewer passes
per day and/or shorter overall passes, and thereby enable far greater,
transformative science return from individual missions and the capacity to
support multiple such missions within a smaller ground network. Optical
communications also provides superior performance and increased ranges for
Inter-satellite Links (ISL) from 2,000 to 10,000 km for Swarms and DSMs.
Lastly, the only way to guarantee timely space weather warnings (with a target
of 15 minutes latency) is through space relays in MEO or GEO orbits, a strategy
which also includes optical communications.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 7 pages, 1 tabl
Hardware-Impairment Compensation for Enabling Distributed Large-Scale MIMO
Abstract—Distributed large-scale MIMO is a promising option for coping with the projected explosion in mobile traffic. It involves multiple Access Points (APs) that are connected to a central server via wired backhaul and act as a distributed MIMO transmitter, serving multiple users via spatial precoding. As is well known, large downlink (DL) spectral efficiencies can be achieved with TDD operation, pilots sent in the uplink (UL), and DL-UL channel reciprocity. With APs made of inexpensive hardware and connected via, e.g., Ethernet, synchronization and reciprocity calibration are the main hurdle for implementing a truly distributed MU-MIMO system. This work studies mechanisms for RF calibration that can enable distributed high-performing large-scale MIMO operation. We propose methods for relative calibration of the APs in order to ensure TDD reciprocity while not relying on an explicitly self-calibrating RF design. As our analysis and simulations suggest, the proposed methods significantly outperform existing self calibration methods without requiring additional signaling overhead and can enable TDD reciprocity for calibration of noncolocated networks. I