End-to-End Dynamic Metasurface Antenna Wireless System: Prototype, Opportunities, and Challenges

2025-06-11

AI Summary

Current research on dynamic metasurface antenna (DMA)-based wireless systems is hindered by the absence of end-to-end hardware prototypes and underutilization of strong mutual coupling (MC) among unit cells. Method: This work presents the first K-band end-to-end DMA wireless system prototype, explicitly modeling and exploiting strong MC effects within a complete system architecture. We introduce a beam-and-null co-adaptive dynamic control mechanism, integrating a dynamic metasurface antenna, an SDR-based transceiver platform, QPSK-OFDM waveforms, and a radiation-pattern-aware optimization algorithm trained on measured antenna patterns. Contribution/Results: Experimental validation demonstrates 43 dB interference suppression, high-precision synchronized beam–null control, and bit-error-rate (BER) performance meeting specification requirements. The results substantiate a low-power, highly integrated paradigm for large-scale MIMO systems enabled by intelligent metasurfaces.

Technology Category

• Search and Optimization: Metareasoning and Metaheuristics
• Machine Learning: Hardware-aware ML
• Multiagent Systems: Mechanism Design

Application Category

• Systems and Infrastructure for Web, Mobile and WoT: Data management and stream processing for Web, mobile and wireless applications
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Security and Privacy: Large-scale security measurements

Abstract

Dynamic metasurface antennas (DMAs) are a promising hybrid analog/digital beamforming technology to realize next-generation wireless systems with low cost, footprint, and power consumption. The research on DMA-empowered wireless systems is still at an early stage, mostly limited to theoretical studies under simplifying assumptions on the one hand and a few antenna-level experiments on the other hand. Substantial knowledge gaps arise from the lack of complete end-to-end DMA-empowered wireless system prototypes. In addition, recently unveiled benefits of strong inter-element mutual coupling (MC) in DMAs remain untapped. Here, we demonstrate a K-band prototype of an end-to-end wireless system based on a DMA with strong inter-element MC. To showcase the flexible control over the DMA's radiation pattern, we present an experimental case study of simultaneously steering a beam to a desired transmitter and a null to an undesired jammer, achieving up to 43~dB discrimination. Using software-defined radios, we transmit and receive QPSK OFDM waveforms to evaluate the bit error rate. We also discuss algorithmic and technological challenges associated with envisioned future evolutions of our end-to-end testbed and real-life DMA-based wireless systems.

Problem

• Lack of complete end-to-end DMA wireless system prototypes
• Untapped benefits of strong inter-element mutual coupling in DMAs
• Challenges in algorithmic and technological evolution for DMA systems

Innovation

• End-to-end K-band DMA wireless prototype
• Beam steering with strong mutual coupling
• QPSK OFDM transmission for performance evaluation