Prototyping Real-Time Full Duplex Radios

TL;DR

This paper presents a real-time full duplex radio prototype for 5G that significantly improves throughput by effectively canceling self-interference using a combined analog and digital approach.

Contribution

It introduces a novel real-time full duplex radio prototype on SDR hardware, integrating dual-polarization antennas with digital self-interference cancellation.

Findings

Achieves 1.9x higher throughput than half-duplex systems

Demonstrates effective self-interference cancellation in real-time

Highlights remaining challenges for practical deployment

Abstract

In this article, we present a real-time full duplex radio system for 5G wireless networks. Full duplex radios are capable of opening new possibilities in contexts of high traffic demand where there are limited radio resources. A critical issue, however, to implementing full duplex radios, in real wireless environments, is being able to cancel self-interference. To overcome the self-interference challenge, we prototype our design on a software-defined radio (SDR) platform. This design combines a dual-polarization antenna-based analog part with a digital self-interference canceller that operates in real-time. Prototype test results confirm that the proposed full-duplex system achieves about 1.9 times higher throughput than a half-duplex system. This article concludes with a discussion of implementationchallenges that remain for researchers seeking the most viable solution for full duplex communications.