Efficient mobile near-field terahertz communications for 7G
- Reference number
- FFL24-0100
- Project leader
- Petrov, Vitaly
- Start and end dates
- 250801-300731
- Amount granted
- 15 000 000 SEK
- Administrative organization
- KTH - Royal Institute of Technology
- Research area
- Information, Communication and Systems Technology
Summary
The main objective is to design efficient mobile wireless communications in the terahertz frequency band (THz, 100 GHz - 3000 GHz). For this, the project will utilize recently invented "non-conventional THz wavefronts" - ways of engineering the THz signal in the near field that allow to achieve some unprecedented properties (i.e., non-straight trajectory of the THz beam or its ability to self-heal after hitting an obstacle). To enable these innovations, the project team will: 1. Identify the most useful THz wavefronts for future near-field THz communications (Work Package 1) 2. Develop novel theoretical models for this new class of communication systems (Work Package 2) 3. Design novel control algorithms and protocols to orchestrate mobile THz these novel wavefronts (Work Package 3) 4. Design a hardware test bed to validate and demonstrate the best solutions identified in the project (Work Package 4) The main expected results include: 1) Advancement in wireless communication theory - new computationally efficient models to describe the behavior and performance of these novel wireless systems 2) Advancement in wireless network design - novel design principles plus novel algorithms and protocols to govern these new systems 3) Advancement in next-generation wireless standards - in close collaboration with industry, the most promising innovations from this project will be contributed to relevant IEEE and 3GPP standardization groups on 6G/beyond-6G networks
Popular science description
Work on standardizing sixth-generation (6G) wireless networks will start in a few years already. This project aims to study "What can be beyond 6G?" and "How may wireless networks look like in 10-15 years?" The vision here is that one of the important components of these beyond-6G (called "7G", for convenience) networks will be mobile wireless communications in so-called "terahertz" frequency bands. While most existing wireless networks (for example, Wi-Fi networks we use at home or office) operate by transmitting and receiving signals with wavelengths from approximately 6 centimeters to around 20 centimeters, these novel terahertz wireless communications will utilize signals with wavelengths comparable to or even less than 1 millimeter (so, around 100 times shorter). Such systems are key enablers for orders of magnitude faster networks of tomorrow with theoretical data rates achieving terabits-per-second (1000 gigabit/second and more). The use of signals with such short wavelengths leads to several research challenges but also enables some unique opportunities. Among others, it becomes possible to even intentionally "bend" the signal so it follows a desired curved trajectory (for example, to bypass a small obstacle, such as a lamppost or another human on the street). These features may sound "science fiction" to some, but their feasibility has been recently experimentally demonstrated. Such solutions have the potential to help a lot in future wireless communications, as modern wireless signals often get severely corrupted when propagating through obstacles. However, these attractive innovations require a deep revisit of the wireless communication theory (99% of mathematical models cannot operate non-straight beams), as well as algorithms and protocols needed to control and efficiently exploit these new unique features (for example, to tell the antenna when and how to bend this particular transmitted signal).