Low frequency assists high frequency in millimeter-wave networks

08 May 2018

This video shows two technical demonstrations of current research work on mobile technologies by the Wireless Networking Group at IMDEA Networks Institute (Madrid, Spain) in collaboration with Huawei Technologies (China).

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The two demos are related to the concept of angle of arrival of a signal (AoA) in a wireless communication system. The AoA is the angle direction of propagation of a radio frequency wave incident on an antenna array. The first demo shows the estimation of the AoA in a wireless system operating at 2.45GHz. In the second one, the system uses the estimated AoA at that frequency to perform beam steering at mmWave frequencies (60GHz band).

The research partnership between IMDEA Networks and Huawei aims to explore the synergies of existing and distinctive wireless technologies which are essential to mobile communications, present and future. IMDEA Networks brings to this project its expertise in the field, whereas Huawei contributes measurement data from a large practical testbed, which is key to validate the mechanisms and algorithms developed in the project.

Thanks to this collaboration, the researchers are able to explore the consequences of combining everyday mobile networks such as WiFi and LTE with state-of-the-art wireless networks operating in the millimeter-wave band. This combination is crucial to enable the evolution of mobile networks towards 5G communications.