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Wireless sub-THz communication system with high data rate

Nature Photonics volume 7, pages 977–981 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

In communications, the frequency range 0.1–30 THz is essentially terra incognita. Recently, research has focused on this terahertz gap, because the high carrier frequencies promise unprecedented channel capacities1. Indeed, data rates of 100 Gbit s−1 were predicted2 for 2015. Here, we present, for the first time, a single-input and single-output wireless communication system at 237.5 GHz for transmitting data over 20 m at a data rate of 100 Gbit s−1. This breakthrough results from combining terahertz photonics and electronics, whereby a narrow-band terahertz carrier is photonically generated by mixing comb lines of a mode-locked laser in a uni-travelling-carrier photodiode. The uni-travelling-carrier photodiode output is then radiated over a beam-focusing antenna. The signal is received by a millimetre-wave monolithic integrated circuit comprising novel terahertz mixers and amplifiers. We believe that this approach provides a path to scale wireless communications to Tbit s−1 rates over distances of >1 km.

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Figure 1: Prospective application scenario for a long-range, high-capacity wireless communication link at terahertz frequencies.
Figure 2: Optical spectra before the UTC-PD for photonic terahertz signal generation.
Figure 3: Transmission of multi-gigabit wireless signals with data rates up to 100 Gbit s−1 over distances of 5, 10, 20 and 40 m.
Figure 4: Optimum data transmission as a function of wireless transmission distance.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank NTT Electronics (NEL) for providing the UTC-PD for this experiment, and W. Schroeder from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) for the artwork in Fig. 1. The authors also acknowledge support from the MILLILINK project (Millimeterwellen-Drahtlos-Links in optischen Kommunikationsnetzwerken) funded by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF; grant 01BP1023), the Karlsruhe School of Optics & Photonics (KSOP), the Helmholtz International Research School for Teratronics (HIRST) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the Agilent University Relation Program.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, 76131, Germany

    S. Koenig, J. Antes, F. Boes, R. Schmogrow, D. Hillerkuss, R. Palmer, T. Zwick, C. Koos, W. Freude & J. Leuthold

  2. Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid-State Physics (IAF), Freiburg, 79108, Germany

    D. Lopez-Diaz, A. Leuther, A. Tessmann, O. Ambacher & I. Kallfass

  3. University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, 70569, Germany

    J. Antes, F. Boes & I. Kallfass

  4. Radiometer Physics GmbH, Meckenheim, 53340, Germany

    R. Henneberger

  5. ETH Zurich, Zurich, 8092, Switzerland

    R. Schmogrow, D. Hillerkuss & J. Leuthold

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  1. S. Koenig
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Contributions

S.K. developed the concept, designed and performed the experiments, implemented the photonic transmitter, characterized the MMIC receiver module, analysed the data and wrote the paper. D.L.-D. designed the MMIC receiver chip and characterized the MMIC receiver module. R.H. packaged the MMIC receiver chip and provided the horn antennas. A.T. simulated and designed the MMIC amplifiers. A.L. developed the 35 nm mHEMT MMIC technology. J.A., F.B., R.S., D.H. and R.P. assisted in performing the experiments and analysing the data. T.Z., C.K., W.F., O.A., J.L. and I.K. developed the concept and wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to S. Koenig, W. Freude, J. Leuthold or I. Kallfass.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Koenig, S., Lopez-Diaz, D., Antes, J. et al. Wireless sub-THz communication system with high data rate. Nature Photon 7, 977–981 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphoton.2013.275

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