EE Researchers Break New Ground in Full-Duplex Wireless Systems

A team of alumni, faculty, and students from Columbia University's Department of Electrical Engineering (EE) has published a comprehensive research paper on full-duplex (FD) wireless in the Proceedings of the IEEE. Titled "Doubling Down on Wireless Capacity: A Review of Integrated Circuits, Systems, and Networks for Full Duplex," the paper marks the culmination of years of collaborative cross-disciplinary research on FD wireless systems.

The paper's authors are Aravind Nagulu (EE PhD '21, Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis), Negar Reiskarimian (EE PhD '19, Assistant Professor at MIT), Tingjun Chen (EE PhD '20, Assistant Professor at Duke University), Igor Kadota (former EE postdoctoral researcher, Assistant Professor at Northwestern University), Tolga Dinc (EE PhD '17), and current EE PhD students Sastry Lakshmi Garimella, Manav Kohli , Sasank Garikapati , Alon Simon Levin, as well as EE Professors Gil Zussman and Harish Krishnaswamy, who mentored these researchers. The team conducted their research within the Full-duplex Wireless: From Integrated Circuits to Networks (FlexICoN) project, a joint collaboration between the groups of Prof. Krishnaswamy, known for his innovations in radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and Prof. Zussman, an expert in networking and wireless technologies Over the past decade, Krishnaswamy and Zussman have collaborated with numerous alumni and students to develop cutting-edge SI cancellation techniques essential for the deployment of FD systems. 

FD wireless enables the simultaneous transmission and reception of signals on the same frequency, which can significantly enhance spectrum efficiency, increase data rates, and reduce latency. The paper provides a comprehensive review of FD wireless systems, with a focus on hardware design and implementation, providing valuable insights into innovative architectures that support compact, low-cost FD systems suitable for integrated circuit (IC) implementations in small form-factor devices. One of the main barriers to realizing FD technology is the critical challenge of self-interference (SI); the paper addresses this challenge by reviewing different SI cancellation techniques spanning antenna interface isolation designs, analog RF and baseband cancellation circuits, and digital cancellation algorithms, followed by the cross-layer applications that FD communication enables.

This publication represents the forefront of wireless communication research, synthesizing contributions from both past and present members of Columbia’s EE community. As the world rapidly advances toward next-generation wireless technologies, this research positions the Columbia EE department and its researchers as key leaders in the field.

Read the full paper here and view the May 2024 issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE here.