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Millimeter-wave wireless communications for home network in fiber-to-the-room scenario

光纤到屋场景下的Q波段毫米波通信

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Abstract

Millimeter-wave (mmWave) technology has been well studied for both outdoor long-distance transmission and indoor short-range communication. In the recently emerging fiber-to-the-room (FTTR) architecture in the home network of the fifth generation fixed networks (F5G), mmWave technology can be cascaded well to a new optical network terminal in the room to enable extremely high data rate communication (i.e., >10 Gb/s). In the FTTR+mmWave scenario, the rapid degradation of the mmWave signal in long-distance transmission and the significant loss against wall penetration are no longer the bottlenecks for real application. Moreover, the surrounding walls of every room provide excellent isolation to avoid interference and guarantee security. This paper provides insights and analysis for the new FTTR+mmWave architecture to improve the customer experience in future broadband services such as immersive audiovisual videos.

概要

毫米波技术无论在室外长距离通信还是室内短距离通信中都获得了广泛关注和深入研究。受限于高路损与穿墙损耗,毫米波室内覆盖是关键难点问题。近两年,随着第五代固定网络接入技术(Fifth generation fixed networks,F5G)的兴起并提出光纤到屋(fiber-to-the-room,FTTR)技术,无疑为解决毫米波室内覆盖提供了强有力手段。依赖于铺设到每个房间的光纤基础设施,FTTR为大通量毫米波通信创造了超大带宽的连接通道,使得毫米波可以全面高效覆盖每个房间。同时,毫米波频段的高穿墙损耗反而为消除跨房间无线通信系统间的干扰创造了有利条件,从而为大通量零干扰家庭无线接入建立基础。

为推广毫米波技术应用,中国无线电监管机构于2013年发布Q波段 (42–48 GHz)频谱用于室内无线接入,并由东南大学洪伟教授牵头制订Q-LINKPAN和IEEE 802.11aj通信标准。受益于单载波体制设计,该标准减少了对射频器件动态范围要求,降低了毫米波技术商用门槛。本文首先对近20年家庭接入技术进行回顾,包括非对称双绞线、电力线、同轴线和光纤接入技术,然后介绍了毫米波无线局域网技术,重点分析了Q波段毫米波通信物理层链路、Q波段毫米波射频芯片现状、毫米波天线设计,结合当前云虚拟现实(could virtual reality, cloud VR)等新应用讨论了产品化节奏,最后对Q波段毫米波样机和测试结果进行了介绍。文末对于FTTR新架构下的毫米波技术挑战进行了展望,对包括波束成形、漫游、高效率射频天线设计、精简协议与系统集成、标准化与非通信应用研究等将会是家用毫米波技术持续发展的重要课题。

IEEE 802.11aj标准主要支持单载波(single carrier, SC)与正交频分复用(OFDM)两种通信体制,通过引入单载波体制降低了信号峰均比进而降低对射频器件动态范围要求。通信模板最大支持64-QAM,在4条空间流情况下可以支持14 Gb/s的峰值速率。当前毫米波功放效率不高,为进一步对抗路损、高增益高效率的CMOS PA、全集成天线设计以及波束成形与跟踪等技术需要持续考虑。

Cloud VR类应用对于网络质量提出了更高要求,在2019年VR分级标准中,旗舰级VR需要端到端3 Gb/s以上带宽和5 ms以内的时延。为保证Cloud VR业务体验,欧洲电信标准化组织(ETSI)提出专门针对云VR的切片架构,由此成为家用毫米波通信的重要抓手。当前光接入网络正大范围从GPON向10G-PON迁移,为高带宽毫米波接入奠定了回传网络基础。

当工作在540 MHz和1080 MHz带宽下时,Q波段毫米波样机收发环回信噪比分别可达25 dB和20 dB,在16-QAM @1080 MHz调制模板情况下可实现单流2 Gb/s通信速率,当工作在64-QAM时,通过4×4 MIMO最终可支持10 Gb/s以上速率。

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Prof. Wei HONG and his team at Southeast University, Dejian LI and Jiamin CHEN at Huawei Technologies, for their valuable advice.

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Xiang WANG proposed the concept and supervised the research. Xiang WANG, Yan ZENG, Zhixiong REN, and Chao HE processed the data and drafted the manuscript. Jian FANG, Debin HOU, and Zhe CHEN helped organize the manuscript. Le KUAI, Rong LU, Shilin YANG, Zhe CHEN, and Jixin CHEN conducted the experiments and validation. Chao HE, Yan ZENG, and Zhixiong REN revised and finalized the paper.

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Correspondence to Chao He  (贺超).

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Chao HE, Zhixiong REN, Xiang WANG, Yan ZENG, Jian FANG, Debin HOU, Le KUAI, Rong LU, Shilin YANG, Zhe CHEN, and Jixin CHEN declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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He, C., Ren, Z., Wang, X. et al. Millimeter-wave wireless communications for home network in fiber-to-the-room scenario. Front Inform Technol Electron Eng 22, 441–456 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1631/FITEE.2000440

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