The recent increase in users of cellular networks necessitates the use of new technologies to meet this demand. Massive multiple input multiple output (MIMO) communication systems have great potential for increasing the network capacity of the emerging 5G+ cellular networks. However, leveraging the multiplexing and beamforming gains from these large-scale MIMO systems requires the channel knowlege between each antenna and each user. Obtaining channel information on such a massive scale is not feasible with the current technology available due to the complexity of such large systems. Recent research shows that deep learning methods can lead to interesting gains for massive MIMO systems by mapping the channel information from the uplink frequency band to the channel information for the downlink frequency band as well as between antennas at nearby locations. This thesis presents the research to develop a deep learning based channel mapping proof-of-concept prototype.



Due to deep neural networks' need of large training sets for accurate performance, this thesis outlines the design and implementation of an autonomous channel measurement system to analyze the performance of the proposed deep learning based channel mapping concept. This system obtains channel magnitude measurements from eight antennas autonomously using a mobile robot carrying a transmitter which receives wireless commands from the central computer connected to the static receiver system. The developed autonomous channel measurement system is capable of obtaining accurate and repeatable channel magnitude measurements. It is shown that the proposed deep learning based channel mapping system accurately predicts channel information containing few multi-path effects.

This paper introduces a wireless reconfigurable “button-type” pressure sensor system, via machine learning, for gait analysis application. The pressure sensor system consists of an array of independent button-type pressure sensing units interfaced with a remote computer. The pressure sensing unit contains pressure-sensitive resistors, readout electronics, and a wireless Bluetooth module, which are assembled within footprint of 40 × 25 × 6mm3. The small-footprint, low-profile sensors are populated onto a shoe insole, like buttons, to collect temporal pressure data. The pressure sensing unit measures pressures up to 2,000 kPa while maintaining an error under 10%. The reconfigurable pressure sensor array reduces the total power consumption of the system by 50%, allowing extended period of operation, up to 82.5 hrs. A robust machine learning program identifies the optimal pressure sensing units in any given configuration at an accuracy of up to 98%.