Towards Energy-Efficient Tbps Wireless Links (TeraGreen)

TeraGreen will develop ultra wideband and low-power consumption BiCMOS transmitters and receivers integrated with lens array architectures at 300GHz, combined with baseband algorithms suitable for energy-efficient analog-to-digital conversion.  

The exponential demand on global wireless data streaming services is pushing current communication network technologies to their limits. To respond to this demand, future 6G networks will depend on Tbit/sec data rate transmission via easily deployable and energy-efficient wireless links. Current 5G wireless systems, characterized by their small spectral bandwidths and high power electronics are fundamentally limited in terms of achievable data rates vs energy consumption.

TeraGreen develops a new disruptive technology path for sustainable and scalable commercial exploitation of the THz spectrum for energy-efficient and Tbit/sec wireless communication links enabled by a unique combination of:
• Quasi-optical MIMO antennas where a record number of wide-band data signals are being transmitted in parallel through a point-to-point wireless link with an unpresented low level of radiated energy.
• Low-energy consumption and record wideband THz transmitters and receivers, in one of the most advanced silicon process in the world with great commercialization potential.
• A novel baseband with zero-crossing modulation enabling energy-efficient wideband communication using 1-bit A/D conversion with temporal oversampling.

TeraGreen is expected to reduce the power consumption in future 6G base stations by a factor of at least 1000 in terms of energy per bit, while increasing the aggregated data rates by a factor of at least 10. TeraGreen will perform several wireless link demonstrations to showcase its commercial use for wireless backhaul and fixed wireless access.

The partners of TeraGreen form a unique European value chain of scientific and technology leadership in their respective fields. The success of TeraGreen will help Europe to be on the foremost frontier in the evolution of mobile networks towards 6G and beyond.

 

Project data

Researchers: Nuria Llombart, Maria Alonso-delPino, Daniele Cavallo, Marco Spirito, Alexandros Bechrakis Triantafyllos
Starting date: February 2024
Closing date: March 2028
Funding: 5000 kE; related to group 750 kE
Sponsor: EU
Partners: Ericsson, Infineon, Chalmers, Technische Universität Dresden, OTE
Contact: Nuria Llombart