All-Digital Massive MIMO-over-Fiber - A New Energy Efficient Radio Architecture for Distributed Wireless Systems

Research Project, 2020 – 2023

Active antenna arrays are widely explored for increased capacity and energy efficiency in wireless communication systems (massive MIMO). It all relies on coherent transmission from many co-located radios. Completely new possibilities emerge if, instead, a distributed active antenna system is considered. The fundamental challenge is how to maintain accurate coherence?This project is devoted to a new radio architecture directly targeting the needs in distributed wireless systems: All-Digital Massive MIMO-over-Fiber (MIMoF). It is created from the novel integration of all-digital radio technology with emerging high-speed fiber-optical interconnects. Thanks to the all-digital radio approach, all basic analog parts of a traditional radio transceiver are replaced with corresponding digital operations. We take advantage of the rapid development of high-speed optical data links for coherent distribution of RF signals to many remote radio units. The result is a distributed radio architecture with unprecedented software controlled flexibility, energy efficiency, and low cost. This makes attractive also in a broader perspective and a wide-spread use in applications ranging from automotive radars, to smart antenna arrays, medical treatment, and low power Internet-of-Things (IoT) is therefore envisioned. With the best components, the right background, and world-class labs we are in a perfect position to explore the potential and limits of this exciting multi-disciplinary technology.