Researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed an innovative wireless communications antenna that could help deliver ultra-fast and software-controlled 6G networks.
The wireless communications antenna developed by the team combines the unique properties of metamaterials with sophisticated signal processing to deliver a new peak of performance.
In a new paper, the team details the development of a prototype digitally coded dynamic metasurface antenna or DMA. The technology is controlled through a high-speed field-programmable gate array (FPGA).
The paper, ‘60 GHz Programmable Dynamic Metasurface Antenna (DMA) for Next-Generation Communication, Sensing, and Imaging Applications: From Concept to Prototype’, is published in the IEEE Open Journal of Antennas and Propagation.
The wireless communications antenna could enable new applications
The DMA is the first in the world designed and demonstrated at the operating frequency at 60 GHz millimetre-wave band.
The antenna’s ability to operate in the higher mmWave band could enable it to become a key tool in the field of advanced beamforming metasurface antennas.
It could help future 6G networks deliver ultra-fast data transfer with high reliability. The wireless communications antenna would ensure high-quality service and seamless connectivity, enabling new applications in communication, sensing, and imaging.
Professor Qammer H Abbasi, co-director of the University of Glasgow’s Communications, Sensing and Imaging Hub, and one of the paper’s lead authors, said: “In recent years, DMAs have been demonstrated by other researchers around the world in microwave bands, but our prototype pushes the technology much further, into the higher mmWave band of 60 GHz.
“That makes it a potentially very valuable stepping stone towards new use cases of 6G technology and could pave the way for even higher-frequency operation in the terahertz range.”
Composition of the DMA
The DMA uses specially designed, fully tuneable metamaterial elements carefully engineered to manipulate electromagnetic waves through software control. This creates an advanced class of leaky-wave antennas capable of high-frequency reconfigurable operation.
The prototype, the size of a matchbook, uses high-speed interconnects with simultaneous parallel control of individual metamaterial elements through FPGA programming.
The DMA can shape its communications beams and create multiple beams at once, switching in nanoseconds to ensure the stability of the coverage.
Improved speed of data transfer
The DMA could be used in patient monitoring and care, where it could help monitor patients’ vital signs and keep track of their movements.
The new wireless communications antenna could also improve integrated sensing and communications devices for use in high-resolution radar and help autonomous vehicles navigate.
The improved speed of data transfer could also help create holographic imaging, allowing convincing 3D models of people and objects to be projected anywhere in the world.
Dr Masood Ur Rehman, from the University of Glasgow, James Watt School of Engineering, and leader of the antenna development, concluded: “We’ll work toward the extension of this design in the near future to offer more flexible and versatile antenna performance and continue to play our part to meet the needs of our increasingly connected smart world.”
