Millimeter-wave (mmWave) technologies are foundational for 5G communications, but their cost and size are a serious barrier to researchers looking to develop and test new applications. This project will develop an open-source platform and low-cost radio/radar, so that a broader group of researchers can conduct mmWave experimental research.

Millimeter-wave, or mmWave technologies are the cornerstone for 5G wireless communication and automotive radar sensing. These technologies, which can wirelessly transmit large amounts of data at high speeds, will enable next-generation applications like IoT, AR, VR and autonomous vehicles. Yet, to date, the programmable mmWave devices that researchers need to perform mmWave research are either too costly, or lack the features that are critical for real-time beam-steering operations.

This project aims address this by developing an open-source platform called M3 to facilitate research in 5G vehicular networking and automotive sensing. M3 will fill this gap with a low-cost software radio/radar featuring a large antenna array, which will reduce the per-node cost and increase the phased-array size by an order of magnitude. The research team will deploy an open-access experimental testbed on the UCSD campus comprised of the M3 radios/radars, and also bring M3 to the broader research community through online Q&A forum, hands-on workshops/tutorials, remote access, and hardware loans and replication services.