可转向天线赋能低空通感融合新范式:基础原理与未来展望
Rotatable Antenna Empowering the New Paradigm of Low-Altitude Integrated Sensing and Communication: Fundamental Principles and Future Prospects
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摘要: 随着低空经济的快速发展,低空飞行活动将会日益频繁,对低空通信网络的连续可靠覆盖以及飞行器的精准监管提出了更高要求,亟须无线通信系统在三维空间提供高可靠、低时延、广覆盖的通信感知一体化服务。传统多输入多输出(Multiple-Input Multiple-Output,MIMO)系统受限于固定天线架构,导致空间自由度不足,加之硬件规模扩展受限,难以突破性能上限。本文提出基于可转向天线(Rotatable Antenna,RA)的无线通信系统创新架构,通过灵活的视轴朝向调整,发掘了天线阵列全新的空间自由度,展现出提升低空无线网络性能的重要潜力。具体而言,可转向天线通过机械转动或电子控制方式灵活调整天线视轴朝向,从而改善通信信道条件,提升通信范围和频谱效率。本文概述了可转向天线技术,包括其应用前景、硬件架构及辐射方向图特性。随后重点阐述了可转向天线在干扰抑制、空间复用和灵活波束赋形等方面对通信性能的提升。此外,本文还探讨了可转向天线系统设计中的关键挑战,包括扫描调度、信道估计、视轴朝向优化及可转向天线配置等问题。实测结果表明,当用户处于扇区边缘时,可转向天线相较于固定天线能带来7 dB的信噪比提升。同时,仿真结果表明,在多用户通信场景下,可转向天线可提高信号与干扰加噪声比约3.2 dB;在通信感知一体化场景下,在同等通信速率约束下,其目标探测功率可提升至10倍以上。可转向天线凭借其独特的天线/阵列转动自由度,具备适应未来复杂通信需求的潜力,有望成为下一代通信网络构建智能、可靠、灵活低空无线网络的关键技术。Abstract: The rapid growth of low-altitude economy is likely to increase low-altitude flight activities, placing higher demands on continuous and reliable coverage by low-altitude communication networks and on precise traffic management of aerial vehicles. Therefore, an urgent need exists for wireless systems to provide integrated communication-and-sensing services in three-dimensional space with high reliability, low latency, and wide coverage. Traditional multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems are constrained by fixed antenna architectures, resulting in insufficient spatial degrees of freedom (DoFs), which coupled with limits on hardware scaling, make it difficult to break the current performance ceilings. This article proposes an innovative wireless communication system architecture based on a rotatable antenna (RA). The flexible antenna boresight rotation is leveraged to unlock new spatial DoFs in antenna arrays, demonstrating significant potential for enhancing wireless network performance. Specifically, RA-enabled dynamic adjustment of antenna orientations/boresights through mechanical or electronic control mechanisms improves channel conditions and enhances energy/spectral efficiency in wireless systems. First, a comprehensive overview of RA technology, including its potential applications, hardware architectures, and radiation pattern characteristics is provided. The performance enhancements of RA over fixed antennas in interference suppression, spatial multiplexing, and flexible beamforming are elaborated on. Key challenges in RA system design, such as rotational scanning scheduling, channel estimation, boresight/orientation optimization, and antenna configuration, are further addressed. In experimental results, the RA system offered a 7 dB signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) gain over its fixed-antenna counterpart when the user was located at the sector edge. In addition, simulation results demonstrated a 3.2 dB improvement in signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) for multiuser communication scenarios. In integrated sensing and communication systems, RA enabled a ten-fold increase in target detection power while maintaining the same communication data rate constraint. With its capability for agile antenna/array reconfiguration, RA is poised to become a key enabler for building intelligent, reliable, and flexible wireless networks in the next generation wireless network.
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