Electronic-Photonic Integrated Circuits for Wireless THz Communication [EPIC-COM]

该提案的目标是研究具有大量元件的可扩展THz通信系统，以实现大规模相控阵方法。这种解决方案提出了各种不同的挑战，需要加以研究和克服。其中一些是：1.充分宽带相控阵元件的设计，以利用约300 GHz的可用大带宽2。灵活和低损耗的宽带基带信号分配，适用于多个通道3.低相位噪声THz本机振荡器（LO）载波频率在大量信道上的功率高效生成和相干分布4.具有减少的接口数量的高效并行多路复用电路概念5.大规模、高复杂度的光电系统设计6.模块化电路实现，具有高集成度和高成品率，可用于可靠的大规模THz系统。该提案旨在基于一种新颖的跨学科架构来应对上述挑战，该架构利用电子光子集成电路（EPIC）技术平台的高级版本将光学和高频电子器件与构建模块结合在一起。该团队提出的愿景包括以下主要特征：1.单片集成的小型化鲁棒252-325 GHz（IEEE 802.15.3d）TX/RX 2.可扩展架构，每单元最高可达200 GBd符号速率3.同时单片共集成的电子-光子接口具有一个新的高速锗光电探测器组件与世界纪录的性能4。光波分复用（WDM）数据流（每单元4x 50 GBd）和光LO路由方法5.具有增益控制的低损耗宽带LO波束成形架构6.每个单元集成4单元片上天线阵列（接口损耗较小），实现水平/垂直极化复用7.使用两个波束成形单元的叠加的用于低功率无DAC 16-QAM操作的二进制加权IQ调制8. RX中的低功率并行环形调制器架构，以规避由硅马赫-曾德尔调制器（MZM）施加的当前速度瓶颈9。面向大规模THz阵列系统的光学背板组件

This proposal targets research on a scalable THz communication system with a large number of elements towards a massive phased-array approach. Such a solution poses a variety of different challenges that need to be investigated and overcome. Some of these are: 1. Design of sufficiently broadband phased-array components to utilize the available large bandwidth around 300 GHz 2. Flexible and low loss broadband baseband signal distribution for many channels 3. Power-efficient generation and coherent distribution of the low phase-noise THz local oscillator (LO) carrier frequency across massive amounts of channels 4. Efficient parallel multiplexed circuit concepts with a reduced number of interfaces 5. Design of large-scale, high-complexity optical and electrical systems 6. Modular circuit implementations with a high level of integration and simultaneous high yield for reliable massive THz systems. The proposal aims to address the above challenges based on a novel interdisciplinary architecture that combines optical and high-frequency electrical devices and building blocks in a coherent process utilizing an advanced version of an electronic photonic integrated circuit (EPIC) technology platform. The vision proposed by the team includes the following key features: 1. Monolithic integration of miniaturized robust 252-325 GHz (IEEE 802.15.3d) TX/RX 2. Scalable architecture with up to 200 GBd symbol rate per unit cell 3. Simultaneous monolithic co-integration of an electronic-photonic interface featuring a novel high-speed Ge photodetector component with a world record performance 4. Optical wavelength-division multiplexed (WDM) data stream (4x50 GBd per unit cell) and optical LO routing approach 5. Low-loss broadband LO-beamforming architecture with gain control 6. Integrated 4-element on-chip antenna array per unit cell (less interface loss), implementing horizontal/vertical polarization multiplex 7. Binary-weighted IQ-modulation for low-power DAC-less 16-QAM operation using superposition of two beamforming unit cells 8. Low-power parallel ring modulator architecture in RX to circumvent the present speed bottleneck imposed by silicon Mach-Zehnder modulators (MZMs) 9. Optical backplane assembly for future scaling towards a massive THz array system