Wideband Microwave Linear Analog Computer (MiLAC) for Frequency-Flat and Frequency-Selective Processing

Abstract

Microwave linear analog computer (MiLAC) has been proposed as an analog processing architecture to perform efficient computation in the microwave domain. Consisting of reconfigurable impedance networks, a MiLAC can extract many of the gains of large multi-antenna systems without costly digital processing, e.g., achieving capacity in narrowband multiple-input single-output (MISO). However, the behavior of wideband MiLAC, required to support high data-rate transmissions, is widely unknown. The impedance components of MiLACs have non-trivial frequency-dependent response, requiring specific implementations to characterize it. In this work, we consider MiLAC implementations based on LC resonators with tunable capacitance, which allow synthesizing near-arbitrary passive lossless impedance matrices at individual frequencies using inductors and varactors. We characterize the mapping between optimal MISO precoding at a reference frequency, and the vector of capacitances configuring the MiLAC. We derive the degrees of freedom (DoFs) remaining after fixing such optimum precoding at the reference frequency, and show that these DoFs can be exploited to tune the frequency response of the MiLAC. We propose two techniques to exploit these DoFs: a closed-form approach for frequency-flat MiLAC processing, and a numerical approach for multi-frequency MiLAC processing, optimizing processing at frequencies other than the reference one. The frequency-flat approach shows satisfactory performance in a simulated frequency-flat millimeter-wave scenario, approaching the performance of digital processing. The multi-frequency approach can adapt to the frequency-selectivity of a simulated sub-6GHz scenario, attaining gains over frequency-flat digital processing. This constitutes the first demonstration that realistic MiLAC implementations can be configured to perform independent computations at different frequencies.