MERL - Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories

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Communications

Wireless and optical communications.

We conduct advanced research in wireless and optical communications from the network layer down to the physical layer, including highly reliable machine-to-machine wireless networks, routing and scheduling for IoT networks, massive MIMO for 5G systems, flexible wideband RF front-end architectures, advanced error correction coding, and novel modulation and transmission techniques with adaptive signal processing for coherent fiber-optic and free-space optical communications.

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  • Awards

    •  AWARD   Excellent Presentation Award
      Date: January 25, 2021
      Awarded to: Takenori Sumi, Yukimasa Nagai, Jianlin Guo, Philip Orlik, Tatsuya Yokoyama, Hiroshi Mineno
      MERL Contacts: Jianlin Guo; Philip Orlik
      Research Areas: Communications, Machine Learning, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • MELCO and MERL researchers have won "Excellent Presentation Award" at the IPSJ/CDS30 (Information Processing Society of Japan/Consumer Devices and Systems 30th conferences) held on January 25, 2021. The paper titled "Sub-1 GHz Coexistence Using Reinforcement Learning Based IEEE 802.11ah RAW Scheduling" addresses coexistence between IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g systems in the Sub-1 GHz frequency bands. This paper proposes a novel method to allocate IEEE 802.11 RAW time slots using a Q-Learning technique. MERL and MELCO have been leading IEEE 802.19.3 coexistence standard development and this paper is a good candidate for future standard enhancement. The authors are Takenori Sumi, Yukimasa Nagai, Jianlin Guo, Philip Orlik, Tatsuya Yokoyama and Hiroshi Mineno.
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    •  AWARD   Outstanding Presentation Award at the 28th Conference of Information Processing Society of Japan/Consumer Device & Systems
      Date: October 20, 2020
      Awarded to: Yukimasa Nagai, Takenori Sumi, Jianlin Guo, Philip Orlik, Hiroshi Mineno
      MERL Contacts: Jianlin Guo; Philip Orlik
      Research Areas: Communications, Optimization, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • MELCO and MERL researchers have won "Outstanding Presentation Award" at 28th Conference of Information Processing Society of Japan (IPSJ)/Consumer Device & Systems held on September 29-30, 2020. The paper titled "IEEE 802.19.3 Standardization for Coexistence of IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g Systems in Sub-1 GHz Frequency Bands" reports IEEE 802.19.3 standard development on coexistence between IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g systems in the Sub-1 GHz frequency bands. MERL and MELCO have been leading this standard development and made major technical contributions, which propose methods to mitigate interference in smart meter systems. The authors are Yukimasa Nagai, Takenori Sumi, Jianlin Guo, Philip Orlik and Hiroshi Mineno.
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    •  AWARD   Best Paper AWARD at International Workshop on Informatics (IWIN) 2020
      Date: September 11, 2020
      Awarded to: Yukimasa Nagai, Jianlin Guo, Takenori Sumi, Philip Orlik, Hiroshi Mineno
      MERL Contact: Jianlin Guo
      Research Areas: Communications, Signal Processing
      Brief
      • MELCO and MERL researchers have won one of two Best Paper Awards at International Workshop on Informatics (IWIN) 2020. The paper titled 'Hybrid CSMA/CA for Sub-1 GHz Frequency Band Coexistence of IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g', reports research on the severity of interference between IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g based networks and also proposes methods to mitigate this interference in smart meter systems. This research reported in this paper has also informed several of MELCO/MERL's contributions to the IEEE P802.19.3 task group which is developing standards to allow for improved coexistence in outdoor metering systems. Authors are Yukimasa Nagai, Jianlin Guo, Takenori Sumi, Philip Orlik and Hiroshi Mineno.
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  • News & Events

    •  NEWS   Mitsubishi Electric and MERL Help Develop IEEE Smart Meter Coexistence Standards
      Date: April 23, 2021
      MERL Contacts: Jianlin Guo; Philip Orlik
      Research Areas: Communications, Electric Systems
      Brief
      • IoT applications such as smart metering system are rapidly increasing. A broad range of low power wide area communication technologies have been developed. These systems all operate in frequencies below 1 GHz, commonly called Sub-1 GHz frequency bands, to meet various application requirements. Several communication standards and proprietary technologies already use the Sub-1 GHz bands: IEEE 802.15.4g (Wi-SUN), IEEE 802.11ah (Wi-Fi HaLow), LoRa, SigFox and RFID. Due to limited spectrum in the Sub-1 GHz frequency bands, it is likely that applications will compete for the same resources and interfere with one another. This is a particular issue in Japan where the amount of license-exempt Sub-1 GHz frequencies is more limited than in other regulatory regions. Therefore, the coexistence becomes an issue to be addressed. Accordingly, IEEE New Standards Committee and Standard Board formed IEEE 802.19.3 Task Group in 2018 to develop guidelines and best practices for the coexistence of IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.15.4 based systems and to guide product deployment. MERL member Jianlin Guo took a lead role as Task Group Technical Editor, and was supported by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation researchers Yukimasa Nagai, Takenori Sumi and consultant Benjamin A. Rolfe (Task Group Chair) in the development of this standard. As of April 2021 a new standard recommended practice document, IEEE Recommended Practice for Local and Metropolitan Area Networks—Part 19: Coexistence Methods for IEEE 802.11 and IEEE 802.15.4 Based Systems Operating in the Sub‐1 GHz Frequency Bands, was published. This will help guide future IoT/smart metering system deployment. The standard is widely available for download from the IEEE Standards Association at https://standards.ieee.org/standard/802_19_3-2021.html.
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    •  NEWS   Research on Intelligent Power Amplifier is Cover Story of Microwave Journal
      Date: April 15, 2021
      MERL Contacts: Mouhacine Benosman; Rui Ma; Koon Hoo Teo
      Research Areas: Communications, Electronic and Photonic Devices, Machine Learning
      Brief
      • The cover article in the April issue of Microwave Journal features MERL and MELCO's invited paper entitled "A New Frontier for Power Amplifiers Enabled by Machine Learning". Our recent research applying ML for optimizing operating conditions of advanced power amplifier designs is highlighted.

        Since 1958, Microwave Journal has been the leading source for information about RF and Microwave technology, design techniques, news, events and educational information. Microwave Journal reaches 50,000 qualified readers monthly with a print magazine that has a global reach.
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  • Research Highlights

  • Internships

    • SP1517: AI-based spectrum management for 5G wireless networks and beyond

      MERL is seeking a highly motivated, qualified intern to join a thirteen weeks internship program. The ideal candidate will be expected to carry out research on emerging 5G wireless networks and beyond for industrial applications. The candidate is expected to develop innovative spectrum-based traffic recognition and optimal scheduling for local spectrum access. Candidates should have strong knowledge about 5G networks, spectrum management, cognitive radio, and neural network. Proficient programming skills with MATLAB, C++, Python (Pytorch), experience with ns-3 simulator, and strong mathematical analysis will be additional assets to this position. Candidates in their junior or senior years of a Ph.D. program are encouraged to apply. This internship is preferred to be onsite at MERL, but may be done remotely where you live if the COVID pandemic makes it necessary.

    • SP1537: Machine Learning for Wireless Communications

      MERL is seeking an intern to work on machine learning for wireless communication systems. The ideal candidate would be an experienced PhD student or post-graduate researcher working in wireless communications with a focus on machine learning methods. The candidate should have a detailed knowledge of wireless communications, with some experience in machine learning, MIMO, and/or channel equalization preferred. Strong programming skills in Python and machine learning frameworks are essential. The expected duration of the internship is 3-6 months with flexible start date and length. This internship is preferred to be onsite at MERL, but may be done remotely where you live if the COVID pandemic makes it necessary.

    • SP1475: Advanced Signal Processing for Metasurface

      MERL is seeking a highly motivated, qualified intern to join an internship program. The ideal candidate will be expected to carry out research on Advanced Signal Processing for Metasurface. The candidate is expected to develop innovative signal processing for metasurface aided various applications. Candidates should have strong knowledge about electromagnetic field analysis for metasurface, passive beamforming, interference mitigation, and channel estimation. Proficient programming skills with Python, MATLAB, and C++, and strong mathematical analysis will be additional assets to this position. Candidates in their junior or senior years of a Ph.D. program are encouraged to apply. The expected duration of the internship is 3-6 months, with a flexible start date in 2020. This internship is preferred to be onsite at MERL, but may be done remotely where you live if the COVID pandemic makes it necessary.


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  • Recent Publications

    •  Zeng, T., Guo, J., Kim, K.J., Parsons, K., Orlik, P.V., Di Cairano, S., Saad, W., "Multi-Task Federated Learning for Traffic Prediction and Its Application to Route Planning", IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium, July 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-083 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Zeng2021jul,
      • author = {Zeng, Tengchan and Guo, Jianlin and Kim, Kyeong Jin and Parsons, Kieran and Orlik, Philip V. and Di Cairano, Stefano and Saad, Walid},
      • title = {Multi-Task Federated Learning for Traffic Prediction and Its Application to Route Planning},
      • booktitle = {IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = jul,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-083}
      • }
    •  Koike-Akino, T., Wang, Y., "Protograph-Based Design for QC Polar Codes", IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT), July 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-080 PDF Video Presentation
      • @inproceedings{Koike-Akino2021jul,
      • author = {Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Wang, Ye},
      • title = {Protograph-Based Design for QC Polar Codes},
      • booktitle = {IEEE International Symposium on Information Theory (ISIT)},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = jul,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-080}
      • }
    •  Fujihashi, T., Koike-Akino, T., Chen, S., Watanabe, T., "Wireless 3D Point Cloud Delivery Using Deep Graph Neural Networks", IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), June 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-066 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Fujihashi2021jun,
      • author = {Fujihashi, Takuya and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Chen, Siheng and Watanabe, Takashi},
      • title = {Wireless 3D Point Cloud Delivery Using Deep Graph Neural Networks},
      • booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = jun,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-066}
      • }
    •  Kim, K.J., Guo, J., Orlik, P.V., Nagai, Y., Poor, H.V., "A Cluster-Based Transmit Diversity Scheme for Asynchronous Joint Transmissions in Private Networks", IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), June 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-075 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Kim2021jun,
      • author = {Kim, Kyeong Jin and Guo, Jianlin and Orlik, Philip V. and Nagai, Yukimasa and Poor, H. Vincent},
      • title = {A Cluster-Based Transmit Diversity Scheme for Asynchronous Joint Transmissions in Private Networks},
      • booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC)},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = jun,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-075}
      • }
    •  Tang, Y., Kojima, K., Koike-Akino, T., Wang, Y., Jha, D., Parsons, K., Qi, M., "Nano-Optic Broadband Power Splitter Design via Cycle-Consistent Adversarial Deep Learning", Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), May 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-045 PDF Presentation
      • @inproceedings{Tang2021may3,
      • author = {Tang, Yingheng and Kojima, Keisuke and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Wang, Ye and Jha, Devesh and Parsons, Kieran and Qi, Minghao},
      • title = {Nano-Optic Broadband Power Splitter Design via Cycle-Consistent Adversarial Deep Learning},
      • booktitle = {Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO)},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-045}
      • }
    •  Fujihashi, T., Koike-Akino, T., Watanabe, T., Orlik, P.V., "HoloCast+: Hybrid Digital-Analog Transmission for Graceful Point Cloud Delivery with Graph Fourier Transform", IEEE Transactions on Multimedia, DOI: 10.1109/​TMM.2021.3077772, May 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-043 PDF
      • @article{Fujihashi2021may,
      • author = {Fujihashi, Takuya and Koike-Akino, Toshiaki and Watanabe, Takashi and Orlik, Philip V.},
      • title = {HoloCast+: Hybrid Digital-Analog Transmission for Graceful Point Cloud Delivery with Graph Fourier Transform},
      • journal = {IEEE Transactions on Multimedia},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = may,
      • doi = {10.1109/TMM.2021.3077772},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-043}
      • }
    •  Kalabic, U., Weiss, A., Chiu, M., "Orbit Verification of Small Sat Constellations", IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC), DOI: 10.1109/​ICBC51069.2021.9461065, May 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-040 PDF
      • @inproceedings{Kalabic2021may,
      • author = {Kalabic, Uros and Weiss, Avishai and Chiu, Michael},
      • title = {Orbit Verification of Small Sat Constellations},
      • booktitle = {IEEE International Conference on Blockchain and Cryptocurrency (ICBC)},
      • year = 2021,
      • month = may,
      • doi = {10.1109/ICBC51069.2021.9461065},
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-040}
      • }
    •  Nagai, Y., Sumi, T., Guo, J., Orlik, P.V., Mineno, H., "IEEE 802.19.3 Standardization for Coexistence of IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g Systems in Sub-1 GHz Frequency Bands", Information Processing Society of Japan/Consumer Device and System Transaction, Vol. 11, No. 5, May 2021.
      BibTeX TR2021-035 PDF
      • @article{Nagai2021may,
      • author = {Nagai, Yukimasa and Sumi, Takenori and Guo, Jianlin and Orlik, Philip V. and Mineno, Hiroshi},
      • title = {IEEE 802.19.3 Standardization for Coexistence of IEEE 802.11ah and IEEE 802.15.4g Systems in Sub-1 GHz Frequency Bands},
      • journal = {Information Processing Society of Japan/Consumer Device and System Transaction},
      • year = 2021,
      • volume = 11,
      • number = 5,
      • month = may,
      • url = {https://www.merl.com/publications/TR2021-035}
      • }
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