Safe and Efficient Future Flight Possible with mmWave Communications

Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Dr. Hani Mehrpouyan is a co-Principle Investigator (co-PI) from Boise State University in an industry-university collaboration grant that also includes the University of South Carolina (PI), North Carolina State University, and the Architecture Technology Corporation (ATCorp). The team, which has been researching aeronautical communications, networking, and asynchronous transfer modes (ATM), including aspects of navigation and surveillance, has recently landed a three-year grant worth $4.4 million with Boise State University and co-PI Mehrpouyan receiving $1.12 million.

“Air travel and air transport are expanding rapidly. Unmanned aircraft system (UAS) use is growing as well. An obvious consequence of this growth in passenger and freight air traffic is skyrocketing growth in air traffic density and complexity” says Mehrpouyan. “There will inevitably come a time when UAS, passenger travel, and transport all operate together in a fully integrated, mixed-use airspace worldwide. Eventually, we may even see stratospheric flights.”

Aircraft cannot operate safely without highly-reliable and efficient communications and networking among aircraft, ground stations, and other entities. In an effort to make our airspace safer, Mehrpouyan’s collaborative research team is looking at ways to dramatically enhance the capabilities of aviation communication and networking systems. Their work supports a strategic thrust at NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.

“A full and sophisticated set of sensors aboard the aircraft significantly enhance safety and efficiency and allow a high level of aircraft autonomy, Mehrpouyan notes. “However, we need to be able to transmit this information among the various entities to coordinate in densely populated airspaces. We expect that greater autonomous capabilities will generate and consume more and more information, increasing the demand on networks and requiring data rates far larger than ever used in civil aviation.”

That’s why Mehrpouyan says he is working to quantify capacity and efficiency gains of widespread mmWave wireless airport subnetworks. His intent is to measure and model example channels and validate prototype mmWave system(s) in example airport network operations. 

Mehrpouyan’s research collaboration stands to provide reliable, high-capacity communication links that will facilitate autonomous planning and scheduling, and multi-vehicle cooperation and interoperability, thereby making the planet’s airspace a safer place to be.

This desire to make the world a better, safer, healthier place is what drives many students to study electrical and computer engineering. Mehrpouyan notes that “many students do not get the chance to connect what they learn in class to a positive impact on society, but in this research, it is easy to see the positive impact one engineer can have. Electrical and Computer Engineering is one discipline,” Mehrpouyan says, “that provides a concrete way to merge specialized knowledge and technical skills with social impact.” 

Hani Mehrpouyan earned his PhD in electrical engineering from Queens University, Kingston, Canada, in 2011. His is the recipient of the National Science Foundation EARS grant for his research in the area of millimeter-wave communications, Department of Defense Instrumentation Grant, and NASA seed grant. For more information about Mehrpouyan and his research, visit https://coen.boisestate.edu/faculty-staff/hanimehrpouyan/.

The project or effort depicted was or is sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, The content of the information does not necessarily reflect the position or the policy of the federal government, and no official endorsement should be inferred.