
The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Virginia Tech Innovation Campus officials $9 million in funding to research FutureG wireless technology, the university said. (Photo: Courtesy of Virginia Tech Media Relations)
BLACKSBURG, Va. (WFXR) – The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Virginia Tech Innovation Campus officials $9 million in funding to research FutureG wireless technology, according to the university.
Lingjia Liu, professor of electrical and computer engineering and the first faculty member of the VT Innovation Campus, is working to help define and set standards for FutureG technology, a complex and large-scale wireless technology that leverages mobile dMIMO. You will lead a team that researches networks. The goal is to focus on his NextG wireless, networking, and computing systems that could potentially impact the future of the NextG standard.
MIMO is an antenna technology for wireless communications in which multiple antennas are used at both the source (transmitter) and destination (receiver). This enables the technology of 4G LTE-Advanced, and its enhanced version, Massive MIMO, enables the new radio system technology of 5G.
In this project, Liu and his team will take MIMO technology to the next level by leveraging a mobile distributed MIMO network where distributed antenna arrays are connected wirelessly.
“If we can develop and demonstrate this technology, it is very likely that we will be able to realize many of the features of 6G,” Liu said. “We also hope to contribute technically to 3GPP, the standards body that defines the technical specifications for 6G and beyond. If we do, we will literally be contributing to the 6G standard, and we will “Virginia Tech will help drive the standardization specifications, but it’s extremely rare for an academic institution to have that opportunity.”
According to industry experts, 6G networks are expected to be 100 times faster than current 5G networks, delivering data speeds of up to 1 terabyte per second. 6G networks can use higher frequencies than his 5G networks, have no delays or delays, and can provide faster response times.
Designing mobile distributed MIMO networks is complex and difficult, but the work is expected to lead to applications that will enable technologies in 6G and beyond. These include:
- Commercial communications: 6G is expected to offer higher data speeds and more reliable service.
- Lower operating costs: Mobile distributed MIMO networks use wireless connectivity instead of fiber optics, so they can operate on cheaper infrastructure.
- Military communications: 6G has the potential to dramatically improve situational awareness and decision-making in military operations and short-term conflicts. Wireless connectivity is more agile and can be quickly set up and dismantled on site.
- Improved location services: 6G is expected to accurately detect location within centimeters, meaning drones and other unmanned vehicles can be sent into dangerous environments without risking human life.
- Cybersecurity: 6G will include advanced security features to minimize or eliminate cyber-attacks. Mobile distributed MIMO networks avoid the common problem of single points of failure by distributing antennas in different locations.
“Leveraging wireless technology through mobile distributed MIMO networks means developing an enabling technology that has so far been unrealized or, at best, incomplete. It will have a big impact,” Liu said.
For more information, visit https://news.vt.edu/articles/2023/10/eng-futuregaward.