A New Look at Time Reversal for 6G Wireless Communications

Aug 30, 2022

 

experimental

 

We are pleased to share that a new article on 6G wireless communications, co-authored by our AI and Digital Science Research Center’s (AIDRC) Prof. Mérouane Debbah, Chief Researcher, and Prof. George C. Alexandropoulos, Principal Researcher, has been accepted for publication in the prestigious IEEE Vehicular Technology Magazine (impact factor:13.609).

The article, titled "Time reversal for 6G wireless communications: Novel experiments, opportunities, and challenges" is set to appear in print later this year. A preprint online version may be accessed at https://arxiv.org/pdf/2206.08419.pdf

The article has been completed in collaboration with the inputs of a wider team that includes Prof. Mathias Fink, a leading expert in time reversal in ESPCI Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS, Institut Langevin in France; the Mathematical and Algorithmic Sciences Lab, Paris Research Center, Huawei Technologies France; and the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

Highlighting the significance of the article, the AIDRC team points out that it presents novel experimental results showcasing the high resolution spatiotemporal focusing capability of the time reversal technique in a wide range of carrier frequencies exhibiting very different signal propagation characteristics. Believing that this significant property, which is realized via basic transceiver operations, can contribute to 6G wireless communications in terms of coverage extension, sensing, and localization, the article investigates the key requirements for the efficient operation of time reversal, and demonstrates the role of the available bandwidth and the number of transmit antennas on its performance.

Inspired by the current trends in millimeter and THz technologies as well as in localization and sensing for beyond 5G and 6G networks, the AIDRC team has experimentally investigated the spatiotemporal focusing capability of the time reversal technique in large-bandwidth wireless communications with various carrier frequencies, ranging from sub6GHz to subTHz. The team has also examined the underlying principle of time reversal via representative demonstrations and considerations up to the current time, and presented its key competencies in terms of low-complexity transceiver hardware and signal processing, as well as its requirements for rich scattering and large-bandwidth communications.

The article also highlighted the opportunities and challenges with regard to temporal resolution in 6G wireless communications and discussed its promising synergies with other emerging technologies, including reconfigurable intelligent surfaces, holographic MIMO, and orbital angular momentum.

Congratulations to Prof. Debbah, Prof. Alexandropoulos, and our wider AIDRC team!

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