The DARPA Millimeter Wave Digital Arrays (MIDAS) Program

Hancock, Timothy; Gross, Steven J.; McSpadden, James; Kushner, Lawrence J.; Milne, Jason; Hacker, J.B.; Walsh, Ryan; Hornbuckle, Craig; Campbell, Carol; Kobayashi, K.W.

doi:10.1109/bcicts48439.2020.9392956

Cited by 9 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…The capability of the proposed architecture to process in parallel multiple beams at the transmitter and at the receiver greatly reduces the issues related to network discovery, cell search, and initial access [59] which become more and more problematic as narrower beams are formed by the BTS and for scenarios where node location is not known a priori [28]. Recent simulation-based results confirming initial access latency reductions when the BTS supports multiple beams at the transmit side were recently reported in [48].…”

Section: Multi-band Multi-beam Transmit Architecturementioning

confidence: 87%

“…This beamforming and 0.6-2.5 GHz for analog beamforming 2 . For comparison, the BBP goal set by DARPA for Phase 2 of its MIDAS program is at least 3.2 GHz using digital beamforming [28]. With 2.4 GHz of IF bandwidth in each beam, and 15 beams formed simultaneously and continuously, the system proposed in this paper has a nominal BBP of 36 GHz which is an order of magnitude higher than what is considered achievable with all electronic implementations.…”

Section: B Receiver Architecturementioning

confidence: 98%

“…This analog beamforming configuration enables the transmission of multiple beams simultaneously without a digital precoder and using a single DAC per beam, as opposed to having to use one DAC per antenna (digital beamforming) or one DAC per antenna subarray (hybrid beamforming). This allows for a significant reduction in the number of DACs required compared to an all RF multi-beam implementation-see [28] for a review of DARPA's interest in wideband, multiband, and multi-beam mmW wireless systems and related challenges in all-RF implementations. The data-modulated laser is launched into free space from a fiber termination located in the input (front focal) plane of the lens, which spreads its energy uniformly over the output (back focal) plane.…”

Section: B Architectural Overview and Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, to demonstrate the ability of the system to recover wideband digital communications waveforms with high fidelity, an additional multibeam experiment was performed [64]. In this demonstration, three RF signal necessary tradeoff between the number of simultaneous beams and the bandwidth per beam has also been acknowledged by DARPA [28]. This tradeoff is not present in opto-electronic architectures like the one proposed here.…”

Section: B Receiver Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

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Fourier-Optics Based Opto-Electronic Architectures for Simultaneous Multi-Band, Multi-Beam, and Wideband Transmit and Receive Phased Arrays

Prather

Galli²,

Schneider

et al. 2023

IEEE Access

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Current trends in wireless communications require a Base Transceiver Station (BTS) to support an ever-increasing number of antennas, wider bandwidths, multiple frequency bands, and many simultaneous beams. This is a tall order when considering all-electronic implementations, especially when operating at high carrier frequencies. We describe here Fourier-optics based opto-electronic architectures that include analog and fully connected transmit (TX) and receive (RX) implementations that support simultaneous multiband, multi-beam phased arrays where optical up-and down-conversion are used to generate IF/RF and RF/IF, respectively, signals for simultaneous multi-user and multi-beam transmission and reception over a wide range of frequencies. The proposed lens-based architectures have the ability to transmit and receive multiple distinct beams simultaneously even when only analog beamforming is performed, thus greatly simplifying the tasks of cell search and initial access without having to resort to complex matrix-based beamforming networks. Additionally, lens-based TX and RX beamforming is performed in the analog optical domain with zero power consumption and negligible latency bounded only by the time the light takes to travel through the lens. Photonic signal processing also reduces the number of RF components required at the remote radio unit (RRU) and the number of costly and power-hungry high-performance analog-to-digital/digital-toanalog converters (ADCs/DACs) required. The optical subsystems are ultra-wideband and frequency agnostic as only the front-end components (antennas, amplifiers) are RF frequency/band specific. Therefore, a single photonic system design may be operated at any band and, furthermore, existing installations may be modified/upgraded to operate in different bands with minimal component replacements needed. Finally, the presented architectures provide near unlimited beam-bandwidth product (BBP) with minimal power requirements and no external cooling. Theoretical analysis and experimental confirmation of the proposed architecture will both be reported, including a receiver with a nominal BBP of 36 GHz with a prototype system that consumed less than 300 W, thus yielding a power efficiency of beam formation of 8 W/GHz, which is more than a 6× improvement over the current state of the art.INDEX TERMS beamforming, microwave photonics, optical coherent detection, radio-over-fiber, wireless communications, beam bandwidth product.

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Section: Multi-band Multi-beam Transmit Architecturementioning

confidence: 87%

Section: B Receiver Architecturementioning

confidence: 98%

Section: B Architectural Overview and Advantagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: B Receiver Architecturementioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Fourier-Optics Based Opto-Electronic Architectures for Simultaneous Multi-Band, Multi-Beam, and Wideband Transmit and Receive Phased Arrays

Prather

Galli²,

Schneider

et al. 2023

IEEE Access

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…To enhance performance and reduce size, weight, and power consumption, multiple types of active and passive devices, each serving different functions, need to be integrated in an assembly or tile. In recent years, wafer-level three-dimensional integration technology has emerged as an attractive method for achieving higher performance and higher density of radio frequency (RF) components [1][2][3]. Concurrently, several vertical interconnect technologies for RF chips have undergone continuous evolution [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wafer Level 3D-stacked Integration Technology with Coplanar Hot via MMIC for mm-Wave Low-profile Applications

Zhu,

Zhou,

Zhou

2024

PIER Letters

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Wafer-level three-dimensional stacked integration technology is demonstrated in this paper, employing three gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic integrated circuits (MMICs) and gold (Au) bumps, and specifically designed for high-density and low-profile applications operating at millimeter-wave frequencies. A ground coplanar waveguide to ground coplanar waveguide (GCPW to GCPW) hot via interconnect has been developed to facilitate vertical transitions within a multi-stacked electromagnetic (EM) environment. Electrical connection between the upper and lower layers is achieved through 70 µm-height Au bumps. Compared to 2.5D packaging, this innovative structure exhibits an increased integration capability of more than three times within the same area, with a thickness of 0.451 mm. Ultra-wideband transmission between RF chips is achieved within a compact area of 0.16 square millimeters, enabling extremely shortdistance interconnect for system-in-package configurations. Appropriate utilization of ground metal within the package ensures strict electromagnetic field confinement, preventing interference from adjacent circuits. The designed transitions were fabricated and characterized. The measured result has an insertion loss of less than 0.65 dB and return loss of better than 20 dB up to 40 GHz for a back-to-back structure. This integration technology can further enhance integration capability, reduce transmission loss, and improve electromagnetic isolation. The presented approach holds significant potential for applications requiring high-density integration and reliable performance in the millimeter-wave regime.

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