Short Range 10 Gb/s THz Communications. Proof of Concept Phase 2
Abstract
This report results from a contract tasking University College London as follows: Short-Range THz Communications Proof of Concept Phase 2. This project has investigated the potential of photonic techniques for generating and coherently detecting millimetre and THz waves, with shortrange (in-room) Gb/s communications systems that operate in unlicensed spectrum above 300 GHz as the target application. This would allow compact, low-cost transceivers to be fabricated that leverage the mature InP-based photonic component and integration technologies that have been developed for optical fibre communications. In this project, the UTC-PD has, for the first time, been investigated as a down-converting optoelectronic mixer, simplifying the receiver by combining the functions of LO generation and mixing in a single device with potential for monolithic integration with OHG components. Data transmission experiments were carried out in which a UTC-PD as a down-converting mixer or a data transmitter. BPSK was transmitted on an 80 GHz carrier at a rate of 500 kb/s. Also, optical heterodyne combining the outputs of two external cavity lasers and OOK-modulated at 1 Gb/s using an external electro-optic modulator was converted to a modulated signal at 200 GHz with a UTC-PD. The signal was transmitted over a short wireless link to a Schottky barrier diode mixer, to an IF of 2.5 GHz. Offline processing converted the signal to baseband and achieve a bit error rate (BER) of 10-3 at -52 dBm. Transmission with the same BER should be possible over link lengths of more than 1 m at 300 GHz. The results achieved in the project show the UTC-PDs, as sources and/or optoelectronic mixers, will be key in future high-data-rate wireless communication systems at low-THz carrier frequencies.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA556630
Entities
People
- Alwyn J. Seeds
- Chin-pang Liu
- Cyril Renaud
- Efthymios Rouvalis
- Lalitha Ponnampalam
- Martyn Fice
- Robert Steed
Organizations
- University College London