Abstract
Terahertz communication is emerging as a future technology to support Terabits per second link with highlighting features as high throughput and negligible latency. However, the unique features of the Terahertz band such as high path loss, scattering, and reflection pose new challenges and results in short communication distance. The antenna directionality, in turn, is required to enhance the communication distance and to overcome the high path loss. However, these features in combine negate the use of traditional medium access protocols (MAC). Therefore, novel MAC protocol designs are required to fully exploit their potential benefits including efficient channel access, control message exchange, link establishment, mobility management, and line-of-sight blockage mitigation. An in-depth survey of Terahertz MAC protocols is presented in this paper. The paper highlights the key features of the Terahertz band which should be considered while designing an efficient Terahertz MAC protocol, and the decisions which if taken at Terahertz MAC layer can enhance the network performance. Different Terahertz applications at macro and nano scales are highlighted with design requirements for their MAC protocols. The MAC protocol design issues and considerations are highlighted. Further, the existing MAC protocols are also classified based on network topology, channel access mechanisms, and link establishment strategies as Transmitter and Receiver initiated communication. Open challenges and future research directions on Terahertz MAC protocols are also highlighted.
Highlights
T HE DEMAND for wireless data traffic has increased significantly since the evolution of Internet and Mobile Technology and is projected to exceed Petabytes by 2021 [1].The existing wireless technology reaching the capacity of wired technology, still it is not meeting the demands of future ultra-high bandwidth communication networks
While the technology is rapidly advancing with new transceiver architectures, materials, antenna design, channel/propagation model, and physical layer techniques, there still exist several research challenges that need to be addressed before achieving the Tbps links
Very large bandwidth is available in FSO communication system which operates at IR frequencies, it still holds some issues which limit its use for personal wireless communication like the atmospheric effects on the signal propagation; high reflection loss; misalignment between transmitter and receiver; and low power link budget due to health safety which limits both transmission range and achievable data rates for FSO communication
Summary
T HE DEMAND for wireless data traffic has increased significantly since the evolution of Internet and Mobile Technology and is projected to exceed Petabytes by 2021 [1]. The Free-space optical (FSO) which operates at Infrared (IR) frequencies has several issues that limit the practicality of these systems for personal wireless communications [2], [3] In this perspective, the Terahertz (THz) band from 0.1 to 10 Terahertz has the potential to provide up to Tbps link speed to satisfy beyond fifth-generation (5G) communication requirements such as high throughput and low latency [3]–[6]. While the technology is rapidly advancing with new transceiver architectures, materials, antenna design, channel/propagation model, and physical layer techniques, there still exist several research challenges that need to be addressed before achieving the Tbps links. Among these different fields of interest, Medium Access Control (MAC) is least explored area of research in Terahertz communication networks.
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