Wireless systems are in a transition phase, moving from degrees-of-freedom limited wireless networks (4G and before) to networks where the number of degrees-of-freedom is so large that it is becoming challenging to access them in a practical manner. The very large degrees-of-freedom regime is made possible by combining large bandwidths and a large number of antennas.

Alireza Vahid, assistant professor of EE and PI on the project, has teamed up with colleagues from Rice University and the University of California San Diego to develop a new generation of antennas with applications in both communications and sensing. The proposed antennas, called CompTennas, will enable unprecedented degrees-of-control to provide a power-efficient way of unlocking the available degrees-of-freedom by performing computational tasks right on the antenna and without the need for digital conversion. 

The proposal was funding by the Division of Computer and Network Systems (CNS) at the National Science Foundation under the Core program.