MiWaveS

Providing broadband wireless communications to a majority of European citizens is a major objective of the EC at the horizon of 2020. With a current annual growth rate in the range of 70%, the mobile data traffic of smartphones, tablets, machine-to-machine and other portable devices dramatically challenges the 4G wireless cellular network currently under deployment. To sustain this growth, high data-rate mmW (mmW) technologies, which demonstrated striking capabilities for short- and long-range wireless communications, can bring a tremendous performance improvement.

MiWaveS will develop the key technologies for the implementation of mmW wireless small-cell access and backhaul in future 5G heterogeneous cellular networks, taking advantage of the wide unlicensed or light-licensed frequency bands available to allow flexible spectrum usage as well as peak capacities above 10 Gbit/s aggregated throughput, well beyond the LTE-Advanced system. Installed in dense urban environments, miniature mmW small-cell access-points connected to the cellular network through optical fibre or mmW wireless backhaul will support massive data exchanges for mobile users with low latency, low interferences, high QoS and low power consumption per bit. They will also contribute to a reduced exposure of the public to electromagnetic fields (EMF) thanks to lower transmitted power densities at mmW, steerable directive antennas focusing the signals in the directions of interest, and reduced data traffic through microwave base-stations.

TST role in the project will be leading the investigations towards the definition of heterogeneous wireless network with mmW small-cell access and backhauling. This investigation will set the basis of all innovations during the project, by defining the use cases, scenarios, system concept and methodology.

In addition, TST performs several individual technical studies, as proposal of an offloading mechanism to balance the traffic between LTE and mmW nodes while maintaining QoS levels, a cell organization mechanism to enhance the overall network energy efficiency and a study and simulation of millimeter wave blocks for backhaul and access point