Full-duplex radio built on CMOS

29 April 2015 Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT News Electronics Technology

A team of engineering researchers at New York’s Columbia University has figured out a way to carry out full-duplex wireless transmission, over a single frequency band, via a nano-scale CMOS chip.

They presented their work at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) in San Francisco in February.

CoSMIC (short for Columbia high-Speed and Mm-wave IC), as it has been called by the team led by Electrical Engineering Associate Professor Harish Krishnaswamy, aims to overturn the conventional wisdom that transmitters and receivers either work at different times, or at the same time but at different frequencies.

In the era of Big Data, the current frequency spectrum crisis is one of the biggest challenges researchers are grappling with and it is clear that today’s wireless networks will not be able to support tomorrow’s data deluge. Current standards, such as 4G/LTE, already support 40 different frequency bands, and there is no space left at radio frequencies for future expansion. At the same time, the grand challenge of the next-generation 5G network is to increase data capacity by 1000 times.

In this context, the ability to have a transmitter and receiver re-use the same frequency has the potential to immediately double the data capacity of today’s networks. Krishnaswamy notes that other research groups and startup companies have demonstrated the theoretical feasibility of simultaneous transmission and reception at the same frequency, but no one has yet been able to build tiny nanoscale ICs with this capability.

The biggest challenge the team faced with full duplex was cancelling the transmitter’s echo or self-interference. CoSMIC technology accomplishes this by implementing an echo canceller at the receiver’s input port, allowing it to cancel transmitter self-interference with one part per billion accuracy.

This innovation is “a game-changer,” according to Krishnaswamy: “By leveraging our new technology, networks can effectively double the frequency spectrum resources available for devices like smartphones and tablets,” he enthuses. The next step planned by the research team is to test a number of full-duplex nodes to understand what the gains are at the network level.

Further reading:

X-band radar
RF Design Editor's Choice Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
X-band radar systems, particularly those leveraging beamforming ICs (BFICs), advanced gallium nitride (GaN) and gallium arsenide (GaAs) components, are leading the way in providing the high-performance radar capabilities required for modern defence and surveillance.

Read more...

---

Reference board for cardio monitoring
Altron Arrow Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The STDES-ESP01 reference board from STMicroelectronics demonstrates the capability of the ST1VAFE6AX and ST1VAFE3BX biosensors to detect ECG and SCG signals.

Read more...

---

LTE Cat 1 bis communication
iCorp Technologies Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The EG810M series is a series of LTE Cat 1 bis wireless communication modules specially designed by Quectel for M2M and IoT applications.

Read more...

---

Quad-channel 16-bit converter
RFiber Solutions Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The ARF0468 from Advance RF is a quad-channel mixed-signal processing chip, with each channel comprising three major functional modules: ADC/DDC/DDS.

Read more...

---

Tactical navigation system
Etion Create Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Etion Create’s CheetahNAV Compact is a versatile tactical navigation system designed for security services, emergency services, and light all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) using offline navigation maps.

Read more...

---

Smart module for multi-media devices
iCorp Technologies Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
Powered by a Qualcomm processor, Quectel’s new SC200V is designed to deliver exceptional performance across system capabilities, multimedia functions, and network connectivity.

Read more...

---

Remote provisioning firmware added to SIMCom modules
Otto Wireless Solutions Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
SIMCom recently announced that its range of Cat 1 bis IoT modules are now being prepared with the firmware necessary to support SGP.32 functionality.

Read more...

---

GNSS antenna redefining what’s possible
RF Design Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
u-blox has achieved what was once thought impossible with the launch of the DAN-F10N, the industry’s smallest and most reliable L1, L5 dual-band GNSS antenna module.

Read more...

---

Innovative satellite navigation receiver
Altron Arrow Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
STMicroelectronics has released an innovative satellite navigation receiver to democratise precise positioning for automotive and industrial applications.

Read more...

---

u-blox expands NORA-B2 BLE modules
RF Design Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT
The new nRF54L chipset-based wireless modules reduce current consumption and double processing capacity, catering to diverse mass market segments.

Read more...

---