Advanced MIMO systems for maximum reliability and performance (MIMAX)

MIMAX aims at developing of a pervasive, low-power consuming and low-cost MIMO network platform with reliable data-rate of up to 100 Mb/s in environments with strong multipath and coverage ranges up to several hundred meters. The current state-of-the-art performs the combining and processing of the complex antenna signal in the baseband. Since complete transmitter and receiver paths are required for each path, the resulting power consumption and costs of conventional MIMO approaches limit applications for ubiquitous networks. MIMAX significantly decreases the hardware complexity by performing the adaptive weighting and combining of the antenna signals in the RF/LO front-end. The required front-end including phase and amplitude control elements will be implemented in low-cost BiCMOS technology. Novel topologies are applied to solve the challenges concerning phase and amplitude control accuracy, reliability and power consumption. Moreover, novel opportunistic MIMO approaches with single antenna path in the receiver and time-multiplexed signal combining will be studied. The platform will be implemented on basis of existing WLAN standards. Further goals of the project comprise the development of the control units, the baseband signal processing including MAC aspects, antenna arrays and smart MIMO algorithms. To verify the developments, reconfigurable demonstrator platforms will be designed and tested. Supported by marketing studies, the involved industry partners will exploit the results for multimedia streaming, television via internet, health applications and sensor networks. MIMAX will contribute to the enhancement, standardisation and benchmarking for integrated MIMO WLAN systems in Europe.