澳大新語 • 2023 UMAGAZINE 27 14 封面專題 • COVER STORY conditions, and energy consumption, in order to sense the pulse of the urban operation. At the same time, network communication technology paves the way for smooth and rapid information transmission in feedback channels to inform city control, realising interactions with the physical world and leading to smart city management and operation with minimal human intervention. The new IoT development raises the demand for better intelligent sensing and network communication technologies. The existing challenges include massive connectivity, assessing the dynamic and complex communication environment with limited resources, the diverse sensing and communication needs, applying the technology across different industries and domains, and maintaining efficient and secure transmission. To overcome these challenges, the researchers carried out studies such as intelligent reconfigurable surface-empowered communications, integrated sensing and communication, and space-air-ground integrated network. They have made significant progress, offering solid support for new IoT-based infrastructure. Building Efficient Massive MIMO Systems It is difficult to achieve efficient information perception and transmission without a well-established communication network. As a new digital technology, 5G network enables big data transmission in cities, but at the same time requires enhanced speed, efficiency, and reliability of wireless communication. The researchers study communication systems based on massive antennas in order to build more efficient information transmission systems. The research focuses on the key requirements of 5G system, such as low latency, massive connectivity, high speed, and ultra-reliability. Prof Ma says that the researchers are building a better environment for network communication, and providing a new means for intelligent sensing. The group has successfully built its own massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system. Using beamforming techniques, the system takes advantage of spatial resources to realise simultaneous connections to a massive number of users in the same space and at the same frequency. The system also uses massive antennas through beamforming to subdivide space into tiny areas and ensure that each area supports simultaneous transmission of data, thus increasing network capacity and realising low latency communications. The group has also developed new theories and optimisation methods to overcome challenges posed by massive MIMO systems, such as high-dimension channel matrix and complex channel structure, laying the theoretical and technical foundation for 5G and the design and implementation of the next-generation mobile communication system. The research result received a third prize in the Natural Science Award category of the Macao Science and Technology Awards. Developing an Intelligent Sensing System Suitable for Macao In addition to a highly-efficient network, the speed of information feedback to the brain of a smart city also depends on smart sensors that act as ‘nerve endings’ to quickly and accurately grasp the pulse and dynamics of the city. Moreover, the collaboration between academia and industry is crucial to building an intelligent sensing system. In recent years, leading cities around the world have used smart streetlights as the building blocks of their smart city sensing systems. Macao is no exception. UM and Companhia de Electricidade de Macau conducted a collaborative project in 2020 to investigate the implementation of a smart streetlight system in Macao. To understand the conditions required for implementing smart streetlights in Macao, the group set up a pilot site on the UM campus to explore the development of the various modules in the smart streetlight system and the design of the control platform. According to Prof Ma, the poles of smart streetlights can perform various functions, including intelligent lighting, pedestrian and traffic flow management, environmental monitoring, and information interaction, and are therefore the cornerstones of a comprehensive sensing network in a smart city. The group will persist in bolstering its capacity to offer technical support in wireless communication and sensing networks for Macao, thereby facilitating the city’s smart development.
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