NYU Tandon School of Engineering among first recipients of new CHIPs Act grant to develop open and interoperable next generation cellular technologies

NYU Tandon School of Engineering received one of the first grants awarded from the new Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, a federal CHIPs Act program that supports the development of open and interoperable 5G and future generation cellular technologies.

The Biden Administration selected NYU Tandon’s project as one of three from the 127 proposals it received. It announced the $2 million five-year award — overseen by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) —  in early August 2023.  

The grant will support NYU Tandon’s NYU WIRELESS research center’s work on optimizing cellular services within the upper mid-band 7 to 24 GHz frequency range, known as FR3.

FR3 offers more data capacity than lower frequencies used in traditional cellular, and better coverage than higher frequencies capable of transferring large amounts of data. 

"FR3 is attracting significant attention from wireless carriers as a promising option for advanced wireless networks like 5G and 6G," said Sundeep Rangan, Associate Director of NYU WIRELESS who leads the research team. “Our research will focus on ways to test and evaluate how well cellular services can use FR3 while adaptively sharing that spectrum with existing satellite and radio astronomy systems. We will investigate how to make these services robust against intentional disruptions caused by jammers.”

Along with Rangan, the project team includes Hamed Rahmani, who will join NYU Tandon in spring 2024 as an assistant professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department; Marco Mezzavilla, an NYU Tandon research scientist; and Arjuna Madanayake, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at Florida International University.

The academic partners are joined by Aditya Dhananjay, co-founder and president of Pi-Radio, a NYU Tandon spin off company that develops advanced software defined radios for research and testing labs. Pi-Radio will develop the radio frequency (RF) transceiver board for the project.  

Analog Devices (ADI), a global semiconductor leader and an Industrial Affiliate member of NYU WIRELESS, will supply the researchers its O-RU reference board, an advanced Radio Unit hardware platform which enables testing and experimenting with various aspects of 5G & 6G radio technology. 

“ADI is pleased to provide important radio technology and support for this 6G research program. The grant funds important work necessary for the industry to understand the challenges of expanding into these new FR3 Bands. The Tandon’s NYU Wireless team is at the leading edge of next generation wireless research,” said Joe Barry, Vice President, Cloud and Communications at Analog Devices. 

Launched in April 2023, the $1.5 billion Wireless Innovation Fund supports the Biden administration’s push for open and interoperable wireless equipment that it says will help drive competition, strengthen global supply chain resiliency and lower costs for consumers and network operators. According to the Department of Commerce, the development of new, open-architecture approaches to wireless networks will help to ensure that future wireless equipment is built by the U.S. and its global allies and partners, not vendors from nations that may threaten U.S. national security.

NYU Tandon’s work builds on NYU WIRELESS’ extensive expertise in cellular systems, with its pioneering track record in the high-frequency millimeter wave bands (mmWave) used in 5G cellular networks. 

NYU WIRELESS has played an active role in standards including influencing 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) channel models for mmWave. Several FCC documents regarding the mmWave spectrum cite NYU WIRELESS' work. It is currently engaged in the NextG Alliance, an initiative to advance North American wireless technology leadership over the next decade through private-sector-led efforts.

About New York University Tandon School of Engineering

The NYU Tandon School of Engineering is home to a community of renowned faculty, undergraduate and graduate students united in a mission to understand and create technology that powers cities, enables worldwide communication, fights climate change, and builds healthier, safer, and more equitable real and digital worlds. The school’s culture centers on encouraging rigorous, interdisciplinary collaboration and research; fostering inclusivity, entrepreneurial thinking, and diverse perspectives; and creating innovative and accessible pathways for lifelong learning in STEM. NYU Tandon dates back to 1854, the founding year of both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute. Located in the heart of Brooklyn, NYU Tandon is a vital part of New York University and its unparalleled global network. For more information, visit engineering.nyu.edu.
 

About NYU WIRELESS

NYU WIRELESS is a vibrant academic research center that is pushing the boundaries of wireless communications, sensing, networking, and devices. Centered at NYU Tandon and involving leaders from industry, faculty, and students throughout the entire NYU community, NYU WIRELESS offers its Industrial Affiliates, students, and faculty members a world-class research environment that is creating fundamental knowledge, theories, and techniques for future mass-deployable wireless devices across a wide range of applications and markets. Every year, NYU WIRELESS hosts a major invitation-only wireless summit, in cooperation with Nokia Bell Laboratories, for the center’s industrial affiliates and thought leaders throughout the global telecommunications industry. For more information, visit NYUWIRELESS.com.