ZTE

ZTE Communications ›› 2012, Vol. 10 ›› Issue (4): 3-12.

• Special Topic • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Millimeter Wave and Terahertz Communications: Feasibility and Challenges

Phil Pietraski1, David Britz2, Arnab Roy3, Ravi Pragada3, and Gregg Charlton3   

  1. 1. InterDigital Communications LLC., Melville, NY 11747, USA;
    2. AT&T Labs, Shannon laboratories, Florham Park, NJ 07932, USA;
    3. InterDigital Communications LLC., King of Prussia, PA 19406, USA
  • Received:2012-08-14 Online:2012-12-25 Published:2012-12-25
  • About author:Phil Pietraski (philip.pietraski@interdigital.com) received his BSEET from DeVry University in 1987. He received his BSEE, MSEE, Grad.Cert. in wireless communications, and PhD EE from Polytechnic University, Brooklyn (now NYU-Poly) in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000. He joined InterDigital Communications in 2001 and is currently a principal engineer leading research activity in wireless communications, most recently in millimeter wave communications and future cellular architectures. He holds more than 50 patents in wireless communications and has authored multiple conference and journal papers. He is vice chair of the MoGig (Mobile Gigabit) working group at IWPC and a trustee for DeVry NJ campuses. Prior to his transition to wireless communications in 2000, he was a research engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, National Synchrotron Light Source, responsible for beam-line instrumentation and X-ray detector R&D. He has also conducted research at the Polytechnic University for the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in underwater source localization.

    David Britz (dbritz@research.att.com) is AT&T’s subject matter expert on free-space optical communications (FSOC) and the Terahertz Communications initiative. He is a principal member of the technical staff at AT&T Labs Research (Shannon Labs) and has been with AT&T contiguously for 28 years. His earlier work encompassed forward-looking technologies and advanced design and development of public communications products, ISDN telephones, and advanced speakerphones. From the mid 1990s, he worked on in-building and terrestrial optical wireless. Since 2007, he has been the lead researcher on terahertz technologies and network applications for multi-gigabit nanocell mobile networks. He was a founding member and chairman of the FSO Alliance, founding member of IEC-TC76 Working Group 5 part 12, and delegate to the IEC on laser safety. He is also a founding member and current chairman of the MoGIG Working Group and the founding member and vice chair of IEEE 802.15 Terahertz Interest Group. He is currently engaged with the ITU/WRC and US CORF delegation on impending terahertz spectrum usage and allocations. He has been granted nineteen patents over his career at AT&T. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design receiving his Masters degree in industrial design in 1980.

    Arnab Roy (Arnab.roy@interdigital.com) received his BE degree in electronics engineering from Mumbai University, India, in 2001. HE received his MS and PhD degreeds in electrical engineering from Penn State University in 2004 and 2011. His general interests include signal processing and communication systems engineering. He is currently working on millimeter wave global spectrum harmonization and associated system development at InterDigital Communications.

    Ravi Pragada (Ravi.Pragada@interdigital.com) received his BEng. degree from Andhra University, India. He received his MS degree in communication systems engineering from SUNY, Buffalo, in 1999. He joined InterDigital in 2001 where he began working on several 3GPP FDD/TDD development projects, both for handset and infrastructure products. He was also deeply involved with device-to-device communications. Currently, he is a principal engineer at InterDigital and is focused on millimeter wave communications and beyond-4G architectures. Prior to working at InterDigital, he was part of a Motorola team that developed RNC and NodeB infrastructure for 3GPP UMTS systems.

    Gregg Charlton (Gregg.charlton@interdigital.com) received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E. degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan in 1982 and 1986. He has worked in the areas of fiber optic, cellular, and satellite communications over the course of his career at companies such as TRW, Lockheed Martin, and AT&T Bell Laboratories. He joined InterDigital in 2000 and is currently a member of technical staff there. He has worked on establishing system requirements and characterizing GSM, UMTS, and LTE system performance. His current research at InterDigital is on millimeter wave communications systems analysis and simulation.

Millimeter Wave and Terahertz Communications: Feasibility and Challenges

Phil Pietraski1, David Britz2, Arnab Roy3, Ravi Pragada3, and Gregg Charlton3   

  1. 1. InterDigital Communications LLC., Melville, NY 11747, USA;
    2. AT&T Labs, Shannon laboratories, Florham Park, NJ 07932, USA;
    3. InterDigital Communications LLC., King of Prussia, PA 19406, USA
  • 作者简介:Phil Pietraski (philip.pietraski@interdigital.com) received his BSEET from DeVry University in 1987. He received his BSEE, MSEE, Grad.Cert. in wireless communications, and PhD EE from Polytechnic University, Brooklyn (now NYU-Poly) in 1994, 1995, 1996, and 2000. He joined InterDigital Communications in 2001 and is currently a principal engineer leading research activity in wireless communications, most recently in millimeter wave communications and future cellular architectures. He holds more than 50 patents in wireless communications and has authored multiple conference and journal papers. He is vice chair of the MoGig (Mobile Gigabit) working group at IWPC and a trustee for DeVry NJ campuses. Prior to his transition to wireless communications in 2000, he was a research engineer at Brookhaven National Laboratory, National Synchrotron Light Source, responsible for beam-line instrumentation and X-ray detector R&D. He has also conducted research at the Polytechnic University for the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in underwater source localization.

    David Britz (dbritz@research.att.com) is AT&T’s subject matter expert on free-space optical communications (FSOC) and the Terahertz Communications initiative. He is a principal member of the technical staff at AT&T Labs Research (Shannon Labs) and has been with AT&T contiguously for 28 years. His earlier work encompassed forward-looking technologies and advanced design and development of public communications products, ISDN telephones, and advanced speakerphones. From the mid 1990s, he worked on in-building and terrestrial optical wireless. Since 2007, he has been the lead researcher on terahertz technologies and network applications for multi-gigabit nanocell mobile networks. He was a founding member and chairman of the FSO Alliance, founding member of IEC-TC76 Working Group 5 part 12, and delegate to the IEC on laser safety. He is also a founding member and current chairman of the MoGIG Working Group and the founding member and vice chair of IEEE 802.15 Terahertz Interest Group. He is currently engaged with the ITU/WRC and US CORF delegation on impending terahertz spectrum usage and allocations. He has been granted nineteen patents over his career at AT&T. He graduated from Rhode Island School of Design receiving his Masters degree in industrial design in 1980.

    Arnab Roy (Arnab.roy@interdigital.com) received his BE degree in electronics engineering from Mumbai University, India, in 2001. HE received his MS and PhD degreeds in electrical engineering from Penn State University in 2004 and 2011. His general interests include signal processing and communication systems engineering. He is currently working on millimeter wave global spectrum harmonization and associated system development at InterDigital Communications.

    Ravi Pragada (Ravi.Pragada@interdigital.com) received his BEng. degree from Andhra University, India. He received his MS degree in communication systems engineering from SUNY, Buffalo, in 1999. He joined InterDigital in 2001 where he began working on several 3GPP FDD/TDD development projects, both for handset and infrastructure products. He was also deeply involved with device-to-device communications. Currently, he is a principal engineer at InterDigital and is focused on millimeter wave communications and beyond-4G architectures. Prior to working at InterDigital, he was part of a Motorola team that developed RNC and NodeB infrastructure for 3GPP UMTS systems.

    Gregg Charlton (Gregg.charlton@interdigital.com) received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E. degrees from Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Michigan in 1982 and 1986. He has worked in the areas of fiber optic, cellular, and satellite communications over the course of his career at companies such as TRW, Lockheed Martin, and AT&T Bell Laboratories. He joined InterDigital in 2000 and is currently a member of technical staff there. He has worked on establishing system requirements and characterizing GSM, UMTS, and LTE system performance. His current research at InterDigital is on millimeter wave communications systems analysis and simulation.

PDF

Abstract: In this paper, the challenges with and motivations for developing millimeter wave and terahertz communications are described. A high-level candidate architecture is presented, and use cases highlighting the potential applicability of high-frequency links are discussed. Mobility challenges at these higher frequencies are also discussed. Difficulties that arise as a result of high carrier frequencies and higher path loss can be overcome by practical, higher-gain antennas that have the added benefit of reducing intercell interference. Simulation methodology and results are given. The results show that millimeter wave coverage is possible in large, outdoor spaces, and only a reasonable number of base stations are needed. Network throughput can exceed 25 Gbit/s, and cell-edge user throughput can reach approximately 100 Mbit/s.

Key words: millimeter wave, terahertz, small cells, propagation, mesh backhaul

摘要： In this paper, the challenges with and motivations for developing millimeter wave and terahertz communications are described. A high-level candidate architecture is presented, and use cases highlighting the potential applicability of high-frequency links are discussed. Mobility challenges at these higher frequencies are also discussed. Difficulties that arise as a result of high carrier frequencies and higher path loss can be overcome by practical, higher-gain antennas that have the added benefit of reducing intercell interference. Simulation methodology and results are given. The results show that millimeter wave coverage is possible in large, outdoor spaces, and only a reasonable number of base stations are needed. Network throughput can exceed 25 Gbit/s, and cell-edge user throughput can reach approximately 100 Mbit/s.

关键词: millimeter wave, terahertz, small cells, propagation, mesh backhaul