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

这项提议的目标是研究具有大量元件的可扩展太赫兹通信系统，以实现大规模相控阵方法。这样的解决方案提出了需要调查和克服的各种不同挑战。其中一些是：1.设计足够宽带的相控阵组件以利用约300 GHz的可用大带宽2.灵活且低损耗的宽带基带信号分配用于多个通道3.低相噪太赫兹本地振荡器(LO)载波频率在大量通道上的功率高效产生和相干分配4.接口数量减少的高效并行多路复用电路概念5.大规模、高复杂性光学和电气系统的设计6.用于可靠的大规模THz系统的具有高集成度和同时高产量的模块化电路实现。该提案旨在基于一种新的跨学科架构来应对上述挑战，该架构利用先进版本的电子光子集成电路(EPIC)技术平台，在连贯的过程中结合了光学和高频电子设备和积木。该团队提出的愿景包括以下主要特征：1.单片集成小型化稳健的252-325 GHz(IEEE 802.15.3d)TX/RX 2.每单位单元高达200 GBD符号速率的可扩展架构3.同步单片共集成的电子-光子接口，具有新型高速GE光电探测器组件，具有世界纪录的性能4.光波分复用(WDM)数据流(每单位单元4x50 GBD)和光学LO路由方法5.具有增益控制的低损耗宽带LO波束成形体系结构6.每单元集成4元片上天线阵列(接口损耗更小)，实现水平/垂直偏振复用器7.使用两个波束形成单元单元的叠加实现低功率无DAC的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，以绕过目前由硅Mach-Zehnder调制器(MZM)造成的速度瓶颈9.用于未来向大规模THz阵列系统扩展的光学背板组件

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