SBIR Phase I: Interference Mitigation for Broadband Wireless Backhaul Systems

The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to enable wireless industry carriers and equipment providers with an affordable technology solution to meet the continuing explosive societal/customer demands for data access. The expected technical and commercial outcome from the project is an active interference mitigation capability with product features including a significantly improved quality of service, simplified network equipment design and installation, and reduced requirements for many components such as antenna and filters. This in turn will reduce the overall cost per data link, as well as reducing the size, weight, and power requirements of the system. It is projected that the cost per 80 MHz link with the active interference cancellation system for the wireless backhaul application will be approximately $2,000. At this cost value, the technology can be implemented into a variety of commercial applications including video surveillance, smart grid, and mobile data. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project provides a unique solution to the challenging interference problem in many wireless networks. This problem is particularly troublesome in the emergent market of the unlicensed 5GHz range for wireless backhaul systems. Unlike conventional radio frequency (RF) and digital interference mitigation or cancelation techniques, the proposed interference cancellation system (ICS) generates unmatched levels of cancellation by using analog signal processing with electro-optic components. The ICS is the key approach that can enable high quality of service in backhaul networks. Taking advantage of the already developed prototype, the proposed system configuration will be demonstrated with representative signal types and components. In addition, as an alternative to the off-the-shelf mechanical delay line, an interferometric based delay line will be investigated for faster tuning speed. Based on the investigations, the product design for backhaul application will be analyzed for commercialization. The anticipated key performance parameters of the product could provide maximum of 80 dB of cancellation over narrowband (80MHz) for co-site interference.