Millimeter-wave Antennas and Components for Future Mobile Broadband Networks (MILLIBAN)

Future mobile communication services will require exceptionally high data rates (over 10Gbits/s) to support more demanding user requirements, including High Definition video streaming. True mobile broadband is a major challenge for the telecommunications industry and urgently calls for radical new design approaches. The millimeter wave (mmWave) band (30GHz-300GHz), offers underexploited opportunities in terms of wide available bandwidths thus supporting high data throughput (e.g. multi-Gbps/Tbps) as well as enhanced data security. This is in sharp contrast to the dearth of spectrum in the congested sub-6GHz bands. In recent years there has been considerable interest in using mmWave technology in telecommunication applications.

High performance cost-effective antennas with the ability to focus their radiated energy towards different directions are a crucial requirement for the successful deployment of envisaged mmWave mobile wireless networks. State-of-the-art mmWave antenna technology is unable to support this type of continuous beam steering with low power requirements and wide angular steering range. This imposes a major barrier to the successful development of the envisaged mmWave mobile networks.

The interdisciplinary research described in this proposal will address this major problem. We will develop new paradigms in antenna design leading to breakthroughs in the analogue beamforming performance. This will be based on innovative enabling material technology along with state of the art microfabrication processes building on heritage at the applicants' institutions. The capabilities of the proposed antenna designs will be fully leveraged to maximize the system throughput with the optimized design of mmWave based small cell access techniques and realistic test-bed measurements which will demonstrate opportunities for significantly enhanced communication system throughput.

The outcomes of this work would place the UK at the centre of developments in this transformative area. This joint proposal brings together two globally leading academic research institutes/centres having complementary experimental infrastructure and skills. Importantly, the proposal involves several key industrial partners who will help to shape the programme and shorten the lag between fundamental research and product development thus further increasing impact generation.

The ultimate beneficiaries of this research will be mobile phones/devices users that account for 93% of the UK population (according to Ofcom). The antennas developed, through this research, will be deployed in medium to highly populated areas. This will facilitate high data rate mobile communication systems which significantly enhance the quality of the communication services and provide new functionalities, to the user, such as uninterrupted High Density video streaming to mobile devices, as well as high capacity backhaul. This will dramatically improve quality of service for the users and is well aligned with the EPSRC vision of a connected nation. These impacts are to be expected when the next generation of mobile communication standards come to market, currently envisaged to be after 2020. The impacts will continue to increase as the technology and standards evolve.
The breakthrough research, described in this proposal, will benefit numerous telecommunications systems manufacturers, including Samsung (project partner), as well as UK telecommunications OEM manufacturers e.g. BluWireless Technology, Elite Antennas, Plasma Antenna (all project partners). The manufacturers will benefit from techniques and IPR generated through the project to obtain a competitive edge over their rivals through products with market leading performance, e.g. antennas for use in mobile handsets, tablets, and backhaul links. This represents an enormous opportunity for the UK to increase its export market e.g. to Africa (fastest growing mobile phone market) and Asia (largest mobile phone market). There is also the potential to create new spin-out companies to exploit know-how and IPR in specific technology areas.
Advances in radar systems (automotive, civilian, and military) will be of direct benefit to a number of UK companies such as BAE systems (a partner in this project) and Jaguar Land Rover (a long term collaborator of UoB). The technology will also be of considerable value for use in satellites; an area where Surrey has considerable heritage through the work of Prof. Evans and Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL). Industry experts predict that satellites are likely to be a key technology within future generations of communications network, and could help to address coverage problems in terrestrial networks. Satellites may see use in high throughput applications (e.g. 1Tbps) and to service markets, including: broadband, IoT, M2M, and cellular. In recent years the area of automotive radar has seen rapid growth due to applications in self-driving cars and collision avoidance systems. Advances in mmWave antenna technology are vital to make this happen. The technology developed in this project will also have impacts across other technology areas, including: wireless personal area network (WPAN), wireless inter/intra-chip signal distribution, high resolution security imaging, standoff explosive detection, as well as mmWave imaging systems for security, non destructive testing, and medical applications.
Researchers in mmWave and low THz antennas and components will benefit from the research outcomes. The proposed research will yield new techniques, technologies, and design paradigms. It is therefore expected to produce new research directions.
The researchers working on this project will gain valuable technical and professional experience from working in this important and rapidly growing area of technology. They will gain valuable experience on mmWave antennas and components design, microfabrication technologies and radio resource optimisation techniques. They will also benefit from training and development opportunities through the staff training programmes in our universities as well as via external providers. This could provide a springboard for long term research and/or academic careers. In some cases researchers employed on this project will go on to become part of the next generation of research leaders.