Realizing Ultra-Massive MIMO (1024 ×1024) communication in the (0.06–10) Terahertz band

Publication date: June 2016 Source:Nano Communication Networks, Volume 8 Author(s): Ian F. Akyildiz, Josep Miquel Jornet The increasing demand for higher bandwidth and higher speed wireless communication motivates the exploration of higher frequency bands. The Terahertz (THz) band (0.06–10 THz) is envisioned as one of the key players to meet the demand for such higher bandwidth and data rates. However, the available bandwidth at THz frequencies comes with the cost of a much higher propagation loss. Due to the power limitations of compact solid-state THz transceivers, this results in very short communication distances of approximately one meter. In this paper, the concept of Ultra-Massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (UM MIMO) communication is introduced as a way to increase the communication distance and the achievable capacity of THz-band communication networks. The very small size of THz plasmonic nano-antennas, which leverage the properties of nanomaterials and metamaterials, enables the development of very large plasmonic arrays in very small footprints. For frequencies in the 0.06–1 THz range, metamaterials enable the design of plasmonic antenna arrays with hundreds of elements in a few square centimeters (e.g., 144 elements in 1 cm 2 at 60 GHz). In the 1–10 THz band, graphene-based plasmonic nano-antenna arrays with thousands of elements can be embedded in a few square millimeters (e.g., 1024 elements in 1 mm 2 at 1 THz). The resulting array...

Source: Nano Communication Networks - July 20, 2016 Category: Nanotechnology Source Type: research