Demonstration of Photonics-based D-band Integrated Localization and Communication

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a photonics-based D-band system capable of simultaneous high-speed communication at 5 Gbps and millimeter-level localization resolution (<3 mm), supporting the development of 6G wireless networks.

Contribution

It presents the first empirical demonstration of integrated high-resolution localization and high-speed communication using terahertz D-band technology.

Findings

Achieved 5 Gbps data rate over 1.5 meters

Localization with <3 mm resolution

Identified system limitations like quantization and drift errors

Abstract

The Terahertz spectrum has the ability to provide high-speed communication and millimeter-level resolution. As a result, terahertz-integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) has been identified as a key enabler for 6G wireless networks. This work discusses a photonics-based D-band communication system for integrated high-resolution localization and high-speed wireless communication. Our empirical results show that a communication rate of 5 Gbps over a distance of 1.5 meters and location identification of the target with millimeter-level (<3 mm) range resolution can be conducted simutaneously. We also show that the error due to the thickness of the beam splitter can be eliminated, while the quantization error and the random drift errors are the limiting factors of the resolution achieved. This experimental demonstration using D-band communication indicates that terahertz ISAC can be realized for 6G networks while considering the underlying system restrictions, e.g. bandwidth limit and lens diameter.