mmWave (26GHz)


This setup allows experimentation of mmWave transmission on pioneer 26 GHz bands by using a pair of front ends with 16 beams. The antennas can be integrated to different USRPs, meaning that any system developed for these platforms can be investigated in the pioneer 5G mmWave bands.

Setup

Setup: below we depict the setup. The same components are used in both transmitter and receiver.

Below it follows the description of the indivual components of the setup above.

1) Testbed Terminal: computer located at TUD's testbed that is connected to the software-defined radio (SDR). This computer can be remotely accessed in order to perform experiments with TUD's platforms, and depending on the user's needs, it can have a Windows image with NI LabVIEW Communications System Design Suite 2.0 or linux image with GNURadio and UHD. Further information is abailable at OWL Testbed.

2) SDR: in order to allow a variety of experiments, we have differnt SDR platforms available in the testbed, which are USRP B200 mini, USRP 2953, USRP N210 and USRP 2920. Further information can be found in OWL Testbed.

3) Switch: the 1x16 Mini-Circuits switch USB-1SP16T-83H is used as a beam selector for the mmWave antenna. The switch's input is connected to the SDR's output with carrier frequency of 2.4 GHz. The 16 switch's outputs are then connected 16 inputs of the multi-beam mmWave antenna. Since each input corresponds to a beam, we are able to select the antenna beam by selecting the swicth's output port. The switch can be controlled by Python, Matlab, LabVIEW and other programming languages, information on software support and documentation can be found in Software and Documentation.

4) 26 GHz mmWave antenna: The multi-beam mmWave antenna is an antenna array with a 16 x 16 Butler matrix, that has 16 inputs, each one correspoding to a different beam, which is irradiated at 26 GHz. The antenna is depicted below. In the left side we have the antenna from above, while in the right side we show the antenna from its front. One of the antenna's inputs is for the oscillator carrier signal with 11GHz.

5) Oscillator: this device produces the signal at 11 GHz to feed the antenna array. This signal is then split into two branches, such that both antennas at transmitter and receiver can use the same reference signal.

Open Source Software


The open source LabVIEW 2.1 based FPGA and host code with a real-time beam tracking algorithm for the setup presented above is available for download in the git link Git Open Source LabVIEW Code. This code integrates the GFDM PHY with the mmWave antennas and provides an end-to-end mmWave wireless link with automatic beam steering/tracking. More technical information about the implemented beam steering algorithm can be found in the paper (when avaible) “USRP-based platform for 26/28 GHz mmWave Experimentation”, IEEE WCNC 2020 Smart Spectrum Workshop, April 2020, Seoul.