Wireless connectivity has become indispensable for most daily activities. The fifth-generation (5G) broadband cellular network standard, along with its evolution known as “5G Advanced,” is currently being rolled out globally to support applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), and extended reality (XR). These technologies are anticipated to become the primary means of mobile access by 2027, as evidenced by the rapid growth in 5G adoption.
The sixth generation (6G) will build upon this technological momentum and is expected to bring about a fundamental transformation of communication infrastructure. It aims to deliver networks that seamlessly integrate communication, sensing, and computational functions, thereby bridging the physical, biological, and digital domains. Fully immersive XR and holographic telepresence, cooperative robots (cobots), and massive digital twins are just some of the demanding user cases that will pose several challenges to the development of 6G wireless networks for both short-range and long-range connectivity. In order to cope with the growing number of devices that blend the physical and the digital worlds, one can imagine that a reliable and fast wireless network access needs to be developed. The next generation of wireless devices is expected to provide peak data rates of up to 1 Tbps (10 times larger than those currently featured by 5G technology). As the next evolutionary step of an exponential technology, 6G, will have a considerable impact on green-house emissions. Network energy efficiency has to be increased by a factor of 100, while per-bit device energy consumption has to be reduced to 1 pJ/bit. The high-reliability requirement will also demand a 4 orders of magnitude decrease of the error probability in data transmissions.
The exponential growth of data traffic yields several highly challenging requirements for the development of next-generation wireless technologies: (1) peak data rates of up to 1 terabit per second (Tbps), (2) ultra-low power device consumption, and (3) enhanced reliability. To date, no technology fulfilling all the requirements has been developed.
The goal of Teracomm is to develop a graphene-based platform that facilitates the integration and miniaturization of these sub-THz receivers in portable or compact devices. The graphene operation at sub-THz carrier frequencies allows the achievement of larger bandwidths. Also, the small active area of the graphene receiver provides a substantial advantage in reducing the footprint considerably, and therefore allowing the production of arrays of these receivers. The direct detection scheme and the zero-bias operation reduce significantly the noise and power consumption required for this type of receiver and fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
4 main objectives define Teracomm. The first one consists of defining the design of the graphene sub-THz receiver. This will be determined based on the simulations we perform. The second objective is fulfilled by fabricating the sub-THz receivers and characterizing them electrically and by Raman spectroscopy. The third objective comprises the frequency and time response of the graphene receivers, as well as their testing for data stream detection and bit-error rate. Finally, the 4th objective involves the business exploitation of the developed technology.
