High Speed Wireless Networking for 60GHz

Abstract

This thesis examines the problem of providing high data-rate wireless connectivity to users in indoor environments. The goal is to be able to reach Gbps/user rates even when there are multiple users present. The technology that we study is to use the 60 GHz spectrum whose special propagation properties make it ideally suited to this task. The approaches developed include using multiple spatially distributed smart antennas in a room or multiple co-located antennas to provide coverage where needed and when needed. All the antennas are connected to a single access point which allows us to dynamically change spectrum and link allocation among the users (as they move or as their needs change). The innovations in this work include the exploitation of the special properties of 60 GHz and the corresponding design of algorithms for efficient spectrum allocation. We use detailed simulations to demonstrate that very high data rates are indeed achievable.