Time-reversal scalability for high network densification

摘要

The predicted explosive growth in the number of wireless devices and mobile applications utilizing wireless networks makes it time for engineers to face the high network densification challenge where massive numbers of terminal devices (TDs) coexist and require both high-rate and low-latency wireless data transmissions. We describe a multiple access point (AP) Time-Reversal Division Multiple Access (TRDMA) downlink system that utilizes the natural spatial and temporal focusing properties of Time Reversal (TR) based communications, where the interference to unintended receivers is automatically at least partially mitigated. As a result, in some implementations, the TRDMA system can achieve full or nearly-full spectrum reuse without any coordination among APs. The performance of the TRDMA system is investigated in both an open access model where an AP is open to all the TDs and a closed access model where an AP is only open to specific TDs. It is shown that in the open access model, the TRDMA system can be easily extended by adding more APs to fit various scenarios. In the closed access model, the TRDMA system is failure-robust such that the performance degradation caused by neighboring APs is graceful. Moreover, the packet delay of the TRDMA system can be much lower than that of the IEEE 802.11 based system.