MEMBRANE: Multi-Element Multihop Backhaul Reconfigurable Antenna NEtwork

The ongoing proliferation of wireless broadband data services is expected to lead to increased demand on the backhaul networks. The typical upgrade of wired lines to high-speed fibre networks is not always an available or economically attractive solution. In such cases, as well as in cases where no wired infrastructure is available, wireless approaches could offer an appealing alternative. In the IST-MEMBRANE project the design of reconfigurable multi-antenna, multihop wireless backhaul networks is proposed that meet the Quality of Service demands of high-speed access networks, thus providing a technology shortcut to help satisfy the social need for broadband data anytime, anywhere in a much more expeditious way for all users, including those in less developed, peripheral and rural areas. In order to provide cost-efficient wireless backhaul the proposed approach relies on an adaptive, multihop (mesh) networking design that makes use of channel state information and interference optimized resource allocation and routing. The potential performance gains will be assessed through theoretical studies, simulations and proof-of-concept prototyping and demonstration.