MmWall: A Reconfigurable Metamaterial Surface for mmWave Networks

Kun Woo Cho, Mohammad H. Mazaheri, Jeremy Gummeson, Omid Abari, Kyle Jamieson

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

To support faster and more efficient networks, mobile operators and service providers are bringing 5G millimeter wave (mmWave) networks indoors. However, due to their high directionality, mmWave links are extremely vulnerable to blockage by walls and human mobility. To address these challenges, we exploit advances in artificially-engineered metamaterials, introducing a wall-mounted smart metasurface, called mmWall, that enables a fast mmWave beam relay through the wall and redirects the beam power to another direction when a human body blocks a line-of-sight path. Moreover, our mmWall supports multiple users and fast beam alignment by generating multi-armed beams. We sketch the design of a real-time system by considering (1) how to design a programmable, metamaterials-based surface that refracts the incoming signal to one or more arbitrary directions, and (2) how to split an incoming mmWave beam into multiple outgoing beams and arbitrarily control the beam energy between these beams. Preliminary results show the mmWall metasurface steers the outgoing beam in a full 360-degrees, with an 89.8% single-beam efficiency and 74.5% double-beam efficiency.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Title of host publicationHotMobile 2021 - Proceedings of the 22nd International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications
PublisherAssociation for Computing Machinery, Inc
Pages118-124
Number of pages7
ISBN (Electronic)9781450383233
DOIs
StatePublished - Feb 24 2021
Event22nd International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, HotMobile 2021 - Virtual, Online, United Kingdom
Duration: Feb 24 2021Feb 26 2021

Publication series

NameHotMobile 2021 - Proceedings of the 22nd International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications

Conference

Conference22nd International Workshop on Mobile Computing Systems and Applications, HotMobile 2021
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CityVirtual, Online
Period2/24/212/26/21

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Software
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Science Applications

Keywords

  • Metamaterials
  • Metasurface
  • Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces
  • Split Ring Resonators
  • mmWave Networks

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