Universal wave-control framework for extremely tunable microwave systems
Wave-domain programmability emerges as technological enabler of next-generation microwave systems for wireless communications, sensing, and wave-domain computing. In this talk, I will
describe our recent progress toward establishing a universal framework for controlling waves in extremely tunable microwave systems. The predominance of reconfiguration mechanisms based on tunable lumped elements leads to a universal abstraction of these systems in terms of a multiport-network representation, capable of accurately capturing all relevant electromagnetic interactions between the tunable elements. I will explain how we experimentally calibrate such models for diverse systems such as dynamic metasurface antennas and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces. Then, I will describe how we navigate the design space based on these models to identify fundamental bounds on realizable functionalities, as well as configurations closely approaching these bounds. I will outline how these results contribute to the development of a prototype-aware electromagnetic information theory for programmable channels. Finally, I will discuss principles for system
design to maximize the wave-domain flexibility, including enhanced dwell times, non-local programmability, and time modulation