Object Illusion in Complex Electromagnetic Wave Environments (OBLICUE)
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Nottingham
Department Name: Faculty of Engineering
Abstract
The ability to detect the presence and shape of arbitrary objects is of paramount importance in imaging technologies as well as in localisation for the future generation of wireless networks. This capability currently stands on sophisticated digital signal processing algorithms that process and somehow invert the signal backscattered from a target. While most of the research effort has to date focused on improving accuracy and efficiency of these algorithms, a key question that remains is whether we are able to hide an object from imaging/localisation technologies.
Inherently, there is a strong need to protect electronic devices from external attacks in the context of electromagnetic compatibility, and data sniffing in the context of wireless communications. One might think that the extensive research in optics and electromagnetics to achieve cloaking of objects is the way forward to hide objects. However, this technology never achieves a perfect concealing of the object and is only designed to operate in free-space. The transformative idea that we put forward here avoids using a cloak and stands on dressing part of the environment boundary with anomalous mirrors. A system of those mirrors create the illusion of object displacement by shaping the electromagnetic wavefront. The reflection mask defining the mirror configurations will be engineered using advanced mathematical methods developed in the fields of quantum and statistical mechanics.
Inherently, there is a strong need to protect electronic devices from external attacks in the context of electromagnetic compatibility, and data sniffing in the context of wireless communications. One might think that the extensive research in optics and electromagnetics to achieve cloaking of objects is the way forward to hide objects. However, this technology never achieves a perfect concealing of the object and is only designed to operate in free-space. The transformative idea that we put forward here avoids using a cloak and stands on dressing part of the environment boundary with anomalous mirrors. A system of those mirrors create the illusion of object displacement by shaping the electromagnetic wavefront. The reflection mask defining the mirror configurations will be engineered using advanced mathematical methods developed in the fields of quantum and statistical mechanics.
Publications
Anufriev G
(2022)
Non-spectroscopic sensing enabled by an electro-optical reservoir computer
in Optical Materials Express
Mohammed N
(2022)
Reconfigurable intelligent surface design in phase-space
Mohammed N
(2022)
Acoustic radiation from random waves on plates
in Journal of Physics A: Mathematical and Theoretical
Phang S
(2023)
Photonic reservoir computing enabled by stimulated Brillouin scattering.
in Optics express
Taghvaee H
(2021)
Subwavelength focusing by engineered power-flow conformal metamirrors
in Physical Review B
Taghvaee H
(2022)
On the Enabling of Multi-Receiver Communications With Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
in IEEE Transactions on Nanotechnology
Taghvaee H
(2022)
Electromagnetic Illusion in Smart Environments
Taghvaee H
(2023)
Perfect-Lens Theory Enables Metasurface Reflectors for Subwavelength Focusing
in Physical Review Applied
| Description | We have found that special (engineered) mirrors can hide objects from radars and other electronic devices that are designed to look, through probing electromagnetic waves, inside closed environment where the human eye is not able to see. While this project has supported the creation of advanced mathematical tools to analyse the behaviour of these 'special mirrors,' the team at the University of Nottingham has successfully designed a communication architecture that can improve the performance of mobile wireless networks while keeping multiple users safe from being localised in space. We have effectively created a new paradigm for radio wave protection that we call 'smart electromagnetic illusion.' Waves bouncing around any room or street can be manipulated either to hide objects or to make them looking different in shape or in a different position. We believe the methodology can be used at any scale, from electronic circuits to cities! |
| Exploitation Route | The technology can be taken to the next level and tested in the laboratory or in real-life environments with actual RIS devices. The network of mirrors can be turned into a defence technologies by experts in the field, e.g., DSTL, UKSA, and ESA. Further funding is necessary to extend the theory to fully polarised waves, whose propagation can be predicted by ray tracing algorithms. A key test would be acquiring the reflected waves from an environment protected by the network of electronic mirrors (either simulated or realised in laboratory), process the data through application of inversion algorithms that are supposed to retrieve the position of a buried object, and thus quantify how well the new technology hides the sought object. This limited effort would make our findings accessible and ready to be taken forward by electrical engineers. |
| Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Electronics |
| Description | Reconfigurable Intelligent Sustainable Environments for 6G Wireless Networks |
| Amount | € 6,499,613 (EUR) |
| Funding ID | 101017011 |
| Organisation | CEA-Leti |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | France |
| Start | 01/2021 |
| End | 12/2023 |
| Description | Collaboration with UIUC on Quantum Computational Electromagnetism |
| Organisation | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Country | United States |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We have provided advanced electromagnetic modelling of reconfigurable intelligent surfaces (RIS) for advanced mobile networks. We have worked with Dr. Zhen Peng to devise efficient optimisation algorithms for large RIS operating in complex (reflective) propagation environments. We have introduced statistical mechanics tools to facilitate the solution of such optimisation problems. |
| Collaborator Contribution | The partner has supported our effort by developing quantum computing algorithms to solve large RIS optimisation problems. The algorithms have been run on real-life adiabatic quantum computer facilities in the United States, including advanced D-Wave quantum annealers. |
| Impact | https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.08676 C. Ross, G. Gradoni, Q. J. Lim and Z. Peng, "Engineering Reflective Metasurfaces With Ising Hamiltonian and Quantum Annealing," in IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation, vol. 70, no. 4, pp. 2841-2854, April 2022, doi: 10.1109/TAP.2021.3137424. C. Ross, G. Gradoni and Z. Peng, "Engineering Reflective Intelligence Surface with Ising Hamiltonian and Quantum Annealing," 2021 International Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society Symposium (ACES), Hamilton, ON, Canada, 2021, pp. 1-4. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Blog on 5G research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Media (as a channel to the public) |
| Results and Impact | 'Making way for 5G and beyond' is a blog explaining the impact of research on future wireless communications from engineered mirrors. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
| URL | https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/vision/making-way-for-5g-and-beyond-1 |
| Description | Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | The programme addressed diverse methodological approaches for multiple wave scattering problems to (a) establish effective communication and mutual understanding across disciplines and application areas; (b) identify correspondences and divergences between the different methods; (c) highlight the most critical challenges for the various methods; (d) identify and progress the approaches most likely to be successful in addressing these challenges; and (e) accelerate innovation in applications such as metamaterial design and medical imaging. The methods that covered include (but are not constrained to) homogenisation methods, multipole expansions, addition theorems, spectral methods, eigenfunction methods, plane-wave representations, transfer operators, inverse methods for image reconstruction and semi-analytical techniques. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/mws/ |