Featured at the 2021 Research Exhibition, this project offers, for connected objects, a reconfigurable compact antenna and a new signal processing technique known as “spatial modulation” and, for networks, smart antennas.
“This technique therefore makes it possible to communicate with a single radio amplifier by transmitting two streams”
The reconfigurable compact antenna can radiate in eight different ways and spatial modulation assigns a meaning to each radiation mode in “bits”. To send a binary message, all you have to do is alternate between these eight radiation modes. This technique therefore makes it possible to communicate with a single radio amplifier by transmitting two streams: the first will be transmitted in the usual way by transmitting a wave and the second will be transmitted without additional amplification by simply switching from one radiation mode to another. The smart antenna is able to detect both messages at the same time.
This experiment has effectively proved that energy-free communication is possible. Simply dispense with the amplifier and continue to switch between the eight modes. This project, co-funded by the French National Research Agency, coordinated by Orange and involving a number of partners, including Atos, IMT-Atlantique, Institut Langevin, INSA Rennes and CentraleSupélec, will be exhibited again at the 2021 Research Exhibition.
