Hierarchical bandwidth modulations for ultrabroadband communications in the Terahertz band

Abstract

Terahertz (THz)-band (0.1-10 THz) communication has been envisioned as a key technology to enable wireless Terabit-per-second (Tbps) links. At THz frequencies, the path-loss is governed by the spreading loss and the molecular absorption loss. The latter also determines the available transmission bandwidth, which drastically shrinks with distance. As a result, traditional modulation schemes cannot fully take advantage the THz channel, and new modulation schemes are needed if THz channel communications are going to reach their full potential. Several solutions have been presented including Hierarchical Bandwidth Modulations (HBM), which is the only presented work that not only compensates for molecular absorption losses but leverages those losses to improve the capabilities of the system. The focus of this thesis is two-fold. First the design of HBM is formalized, exploring the trade-offs and achievable performance as a function of system parameters. Secondly, these trade-offs and performance metrics are verified using a one-of-a-kind experimental testbed for ultrabroadband communication networks. The results show that with proper design HBM successfully achieves its goal of exploiting the distance-dependent characteristics of the THz channel.--Author's abstract