ENHANCING ACCESS TO THE RADIO SPECTRUM (EARS)

• Directorate for Mathematical & Physical Sciences (MPS)

Division of Astronomical Sciences

• Directorate for Engineering (ENG)

Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems

• Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE)

Division of Computer and Network Systems

ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE

Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems

• Division Director: Samir El-Ghazaly

• Senior Eng. Advisor: Lawrence Goldberg

• Program Directors involved in the EARS Program:

George Haddad, Gerry Tian (2012-2015)

Hao Ling, Chengshan Xiao (2015-present)

NSF EARS Program Funding Statistics

Proposals Received

Proposals Funded

Funding Rate

Total Amount

2012 133 (100) 37 (26) 28% $9M

2013 190 (121) 26 (19) 14% $14M

2014 194 (134) 46 (27) 24% $14M

2015 171 (115) 42 (30) 25% $18M

No. of proposals (No. of projects)

Include Directorate of Social, Behavior, Economic Sciences ($1M (2012), $900K (2013))

ENG Directorate EARS Funding Statistics

Proposals Received

Proposals Funded

Funding Rate

Total Amount

2012 48 (40) 12 (8) 25% $4M

2013 77 (58) 9 (7) 12% $5M

2014 84 (65) 11 (9) 13% $5M

2015 78 (53) 15 (11) 19 % $6M

No. of proposals (No. of projects)

ENGINEERING DIRECTORATE

Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems

EARS Program Portfolios:

- Hardware, Ckts and Electronics (Hao Ling, George Haddad)

- Software, Algorithms (Chengshan Xiao, Gerry Tian)

Research Highlights – Reconfigurable RF Electronics

Projects Funded• Adaptive RF NEMS filters (2012)• Beam steering apertures and waveforms (2012)• Adaptive MIMO receivers (2013)• Reconfigurable bandpass receivers (2014)• Interference mitigation using liquid antennas

(2015)• Tunable frequency selective limiters (2015)

Program Relevance• Reconfigurable, low-power RF electronics to

realize more efficient utilization of the electromagnetic spectrum

Evolution of research focus• 5 years ago: MIMO, half-duplex radio • Today: Massive MIMO, full-duplex transceivers • Next: Full-duplex cognitive radio for dynamic

spectrum access

Future Perspectives• Increased spectrum efficiency to support

the explosive growth in wireless communications and sensing

Reconfigurableliquid-metal antennas

Tunable RF filtersbased on NEMS

resonators

Beam steerable antennas on fabric

Research Highlights – Spectrum Sensing Circuits

Projects Funded• Directional spectrum sensing (2012)• Low-power spectrum sensing via compressive

scanning (2013)• Photonically-enabled wideband spectrum sensing

(2013)• Directional spectrum sensing via beam- and

frequency-agile antennas (2014)

Program Relevance• Enables cognitive radio for dynamic spectrum

access

Evolution of research focus• 5 years ago: MIMO, half-duplex radio • Today: Massive MIMO, full-duplex transceivers • Next: Full-duplex cognitive radio for dynamic

spectrum access

Future Perspectives• Increased spectrum efficiency to support

the explosive growth in wireless communications and sensing

Photonically-enabled ADC with compressive sampling

Spectrum scanner using compressive sensing and

BAW filters

Research Highlights – Millimeter-Wave Electronics

Projects Funded • Beamspace MIMO architectures (2012)• Energy-efficient, adaptive communication (2013)• Phased array with low-power backends (2015)• Wideband Si-photonic receiver with jammer

suppression (2015)• Broadband mobile beyond 100GHz (2015)

Program Relevance• Moving to higher frequencies to solve

the electromagnetic spectrum crunch at lower frequencies

Evolution of research focus• 5 years ago: CMOS up to 60GHz• Today: 60-100GHz• Next: >100GHz

Future Perspectives• High data rate (100Gbits/s) mobile

communications

Beamspace MIMO based on discrete lens array

Wideband phased array with reduced no. of ADC

Research Highlights – Full-Duplex Cognitive Radios

Fundamental Research• Full-duplex reconfigurable transceivers• Self interference cancellation• Full-duplex dynamic spectrum access

Broader Technical Impacts• Wireless communications• Future generation standards

Evolution of research focus• 5 years ago: half-duplex cognitive radio• Today: experimenting full-duplex

transceivers• Next: aiming to deploy full-duplex

cognitive radio networks

Future Perspectives• Significantly increase spectrum

utilization• Enhance spectrum efficiency

Research Highlights – Millimeter-Wave Massive MIMO Comm

Fundamental Research• Millimeter wave channel

characterization and exploitation• Millimeter wave communications• Massive MIMO architecture

Broader Impacts• Utilizing higher frequencies to mitigate

the spectrum scarcity problem at lower frequencies

Evolution of research focus• 5 years ago: up to 60 GHz, up to 8 x 8

MIMO• Today: 60 GHz, 64 x 64 MIMO• Next: higher than 60 GHz, larger than

128 x 128 MIMO

Future Perspectives• Much higher data rates for mobile

communications• Enhanced security and reliability of

wireless communications

SUMMARY

A reflection of how the ENG research community has responded to the roadmap crafted in the 2010 EARS workshop.

Your input is needed to help NSF update the EARS roadmap for future spectrum use.

Directorate for Computer & Information Science & Engineering

Division of Computer and Network Systems

• Division Director: Keith Marzullo (2011-2015)

• Acting Division Director: Peter Arzberger (2015-present)

• Program Directors involved in the EARS Program:

Min Song (2010-2014)

Wenjing Lou and Thyaga Nandagopal (2014-present)

CISE Directorate EARS Funding Statistics

Proposals Received

Proposals Funded

Funding Rate Total Amount

2012 45 14 (8) 31% $4M

2013 63 11 (6) 17% $5M

2014 69 16 (9) 23% $5M

2015 59 13 (10) 22% $5M

No. of proposals (No. of projects)

Research Highlights – MAC/NET Support for Emerging PHY Technologies

Projects Funded• Spectrum and Infrastructure Sharing in

Millimeter Wave Cellular Networks• Full Duplex for Cognitive Networks • Hybrid WiFi-FSO Network for WLAN

Femtocells

Program Relevance• Exploiting Emerging PHY technologies

• make use of previously unused spectrum• enhance the spectral efficiency

• To take full advantage in a networking setting• Cross-layer approaches integrating physical

layer techniques into MAC and network Layer transmission scheduling, interference management, network optimization, etc.

mmWave Networks mmWave Spectrum Coordination Architecture

WiFO Architecture

Research Highlights – Cognitive Radio Networks and Dynamic Spectrum Access

Projects Funded• Enhanced Spectrum Availability and MU-MIMO

Coordination for High Spatial-Spectral Efficiency• Large-scale statistical learning based spectrum

sensing and cognitive networking• Cognitive and Efficient Spectrum Access in

Autonomous Wireless Networks • Crowd-sourcing based dynamic spectrum access• Maximizing Spatio-Temporal Spectrum Efficiency in

the Cloud

Program Relevance• The new spectrum sharing paradigm• Novel cognitive radio network architecture and

algorithms coordinating secondary users’ transmission and enabling more network spectrum management functionalities.

• Spectrum sensing and dynamic spectrum access is key to spectrum sharing

Joint Clustering and Scheduling in

the Cloud

3D Cognitive Sensing and Routing

Femtocell network with cross-tier and

intra-tier interference

Research Highlights – from Theory to System

Projects Funded• Transparent Coexistence for Multi-hop Secondary

Cognitive Radio Networks: Theoretical Foundation, Algorithms, and Implementation

• Extreme Densification of Wireless Networks • Achieving Spectrum Efficient Broadcast under

Cross-Technology Interference• A TV Whitespace Communication System for

Connected Vehicles

Program Relevance• Research covers development of theoretical

foundation, algorithms and protocols, and system implementation.

An illustration of an united primary and secondary network

Research Highlights – Economic Models, Policy and Regulation Issues

Projects Funded• Efficient Spectrum Allocation Auctions in Secondary Markets

with Dynamic Random Supply and Demand• Techno-Economic Models of Secondary Spectrum Use• Cog-TV: Business and Technical Analysis of Cognitive Radio

TV Sets for Enhanced Spectrum Access• Multi-Tier Spectrum Sharing and Connected Vehicles

Program Relevance• Economic models that provide

incentives for spectrum resource sharing

• Research results that will inform the spectrum related policy making and regulation

Interdisciplinary research • Technology + economic incentive

Maximize the profit while satisfying quality of service requirement

• Market-based and non-market based mechanisms for spectrum access and usage

e.g., real-time auctions, market design, spectrum valuation, game theory, mixed-rights spectrum management

Three-tier market hierarchyof OSA system.

Research Highlights – Social and Behavioral Aspects

Projects Funded• Accelerating Spectrum Access in Cognitive Radio

Networks via Social Analysis of Secondary Users • Machine learning and social protocols for

enhancing spectrum access

Program Relevance• It is the intent of the EARS program to develop

a broad portfolio across the various topical areas in physical sciences, radio astronomy, engineering, computer and information science, mathematics, and social, behavioral, and economic sciences.

Interdisciplinary Research• Wireless technology + Social science• Exploit social analysis of SUs (time, location,

and spectrum-dependent social patterns) to enhance spectrum access efficiency

• Bring social computing and user-centric design into wireless spectrum sharing system design

Multi-tier Social Graph (location, channel, user)

Research Highlights – Security and Privacy

Projects Funded• Preserving User Privacy in Server-driven Dynamic

Spectrum Access System

Program Relevance• Security and privacy solutions in the context of

spectrum sharing.

Key issues• Secure spectrum sensing• Security of geo-location database• Primary user identification• Spectrum rule enforcement• Spectrum security otology• User privacy protection in the access of the

geo-location database

Database assisted spectrum sharing

Other CISE Funding Opportunities

• EARS (Enhance Access to the Radio Spectrum)– focus on radio spectrum efficiency– emphasis on inter-disciplinary research

• NeTS (Networking Technology and Systems)– cellular, vehicular, mesh, sensor, body area, and underwater networks– throughput/latency, location management, mobility, power/energy, network

heterogeneity, spectral agility, and at-scale behavior, etc.– core program of CNS

• CIF (Communications and Information Foundations)– wireless communications, information theory, coding, and signal processing in a

variety of types of networks– core program of CCF

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

2015 EARS Workshop

Electromagnetic Spectrum Management Unit (ESMU):

Mangala SharmaGlen Langston

Presentation byRalph Gaume

Electromagnetic Spectrum Management

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

22

NSF Astronomy

• Sponsor Radio Astronomy Facilities

• Sponsor Researchers at Universities

• Enable access to the radio spectrum for

NSF-sponsored science and engineering

programs

• Help protect NSF-sponsored systems from

interference

• Represent the interests of the U.S. science

community to domestic/international radio

spectrum regulatory bodies

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

23

AST funds ~$100M/yr in radio

astronomy facilities + research grants

GBT1-100 GHz

VLA and VLBAEVLA 1-50 GHz

Arecibo50, 327, 430 MHz,

1-10 GHz

30-950 GHz

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

24

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

3 MHz 30 MHz

30 MHz 300 MHz

300 MHz 3 GHz

3 GHz 30 GHz

30 GHz 300 GHz

Exclusive Passive Primary

Shared Primary

Secondary

Footnote

Radio Astronomy Frequency Allocations in the United States

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

• ESMU is an administrative unit within AST

• Enables access to radio spectrum for NSF-sponsored science & engineering programs (across all NSF Directorates)

• Helps protect NSF-sponsored systems from radio frequency interference

• Represents the interests of U.S. science community within domestic and international radio spectrum regulatory and coordination bodies

• Funds, with NASA, the National Academies' Committee on Radio Frequencies (CORF)

ESMU facilitates access to and protects science use of radio spectrum

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

PEnhancing Access to the Radio

Spectrum (EARS) Grant Program

Goal is to increase efficiency of radio spectrum use and enhance access to wireless services for all Americans

EARS funds innovative, collaborative research that transcends the traditional boundaries of existing programs and NSF directorates:

MPS/AST (2015: ~$6M, 1 review panel)

Engineering (Industrial Innovation and Partnerships div.)

Computer & Information Science & Engineering (Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems div.)

www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=503480

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

• Ever-expanding wireless/mobile broadband applications, technologies and devices

• Vehicular radars at 76-81 GHz (mm-wave)

• Coordination with satellite operators (e.g. Iridium)

Spectrum Management Challenges for Radio Astronomy

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

• 14 proposal awards, for 9 projects• AST panel reviewed proposals in several topic areas,

including:

Spectrum use policy

Dynamic access

Sharing

Spectrum monitoring

Compatibility of active and passive services

Interference mitigation

2015 EARS Awards

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P EARS: Collab: Spectrum Sensing for Coexistence of Active and Passive

Radio Services

•Zhi Tian; Organization: George Mason University

•Seung-Jun Kim; Organization: University of Maryland

•Lara Waldrop; Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana

A System Dynamics Approach to Mobile Broadband Spectrum

Requirement Analysis

•Michael Dellomo; Organization: University of Maryland

Collab: Dynamic Exclusion Zones: Balancing Incumbent Protection and

Spectrum Utilization Efficiency

•William Lehr; Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

•Jung-Min Park; Organization: Virginia Polytechnic Institute

Collab: Enhancing Access to Radio Spectrum for Real-Time Monitoring

and Control

•Eytan Modiano; Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

•Randall Berry; Organization: Northwestern University

2015 EARS Awards - Continued

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

Strategies for Co-existence of Radio Telescope Arrays with Broadcast

Stations and Wireless Communication Systems

•Moeness Amin; Organization: Villanova University

Blocker-Tolerant Wideband Cognitive Spectrum Sensor

•Sebastian Hoyos; Organization: Texas A&M

Collab: Radio Frequency Interference Aware Radio Astronomy Systems

•Murat Torlak; Organization: University of Texas at Dallas

•Teviet Creighton; Organization: University of Texas at Brownsville

A New Paradigm for Spectrum Sharing between Wireless

Communications and Radio Astronomy

•Hlaing Minn; Organization: University of Texas at Dallas

High Dynamic Range Wideband Reconfigurable Receivers

•Joseph Bardin; Organization: University of Massachusetts Amherst

2015 EARS Awards - Continued

AS

T E

AR

S W

OR

KS

HO

P

Compensation methods for Sharing/Exchange

All previous topics

New spectrum access methods

Wireless methods that are optimized for sharing with passive services Use of time slicing with quiet intervals

Predictable spectrum hoping with quiet intervals

NSF Astronomy Interests