IEEE International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications
13–16 September 2021 // Virtual Conference // By 6G Flagship

Enabling Terahertz Communications for 6G Era

Instructors

Dr. Nan Yang, nan.yang@anu.edu.au
Australian National University, Australia

Nan Yang received his Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2011. Since July 2014, he has been with the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, where he is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering and the Head of the Emerging Communications Laboratory. He received the Top Editor Award from the Transactions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies in 2017, the Exemplary Reviewer Certificate of the IEEE Transactions on Communications in 2016 and 2015, the Top Reviewer Award from the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology in 2015, the IEEE ComSoc Asia-Pacific Outstanding Young Researcher Award and the Exemplary Reviewer Certificate of the IEEE Wireless Communications Letters in 2014, and the Exemplary Reviewer Certificate of the IEEE Communications Letters in 2013 and 2012. Also, he is the co-recipient of Best Paper Awards at the IEEE Globecom 2016 and the IEEE VTC Spring 2013. He is currently serving on the Editorial Board of IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications, IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, and two other journals. He has also served as the Guest Editor of eight special issues in international leading journals, symposium/track chair at international flagship conferences such as IEEE ICC and IEEE Globecom, TPC co-chairs of eight workshops. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE. His current research interests include terahertz and millimetre wave communications, ultra-reliable and low-latency communications, cyber-physical security, massive multiple-antenna systems, collaborative and distributed signal processing, and molecular communications.

Dr. Chong Han, chong.han@sjtu.edu.cn
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China

Chong Han has been with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China since June 2016, where he is currently an Associate Professor and the Head of the Terahertz Wireless Communications (TWC) Laboratory. He obtained the Master of Science and the Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, in 2012 and 2016, respectively. He received 2019 Distinguished TPC Member Award, IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM) and 2018 Elsevier NanoComNet (Nano Communication Network Journal) Young Investigator Award, 2018 Shanghai Chenguang Funding Award, and 2017 Shanghai Yangfan Funding Award. He is an editor of Nano Communication Networks (Elsevier) Journal and IEEE Access. He is a TPC Co-Chair or General Co-Chair for the 1st–4th International Workshop on Terahertz Communications, in conjunction with IEEE ICC 2019, Globecom 2019, ICC 2020, and ICC 2021. His current research interests include terahertz communications and electromagnetic nanonetworks. He is a Member of the IEEE.

Dr. Josep M. Jornet, jmjornet@northeastern.edu
Northeastern University, USA

Josep M. Jornet is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University, in Boston, MA. He received the B.S. in Telecommunication Engineering and the M.Sc. in Information and Communication Technologies from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, in 2008. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in 2013. His research interests are in terahertz-band communication networks, wireless nano-bio-communication networks, and the Internet of Nano-Things. In these areas, he has co-authored more than 160 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 1 book, and has also been granted 4 US patents. These works have been cited over 9,400 times (h-index of 44). Since July 2016, he is the Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s Nano Communication Networks Journal. He is serving as the lead principal investigator on multiple grants from U.S. federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Air Force Research Laboratory. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award and of several other awards from IEEE, ACM, UB and NU. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and Member of the ACM.

Motivation

Terahertz (THz) communicationsis envisioned as an enabling wireless technology forsixth generation (6G) wireless networks. Inparticular, the ultra-wide THz band ranging from 0.1 to 10 THz offersenormouspotential toalleviate the spectrum scarcity and break the capacity limitation of contemporary wireless networks (such as 4G-LTE and 5G networks). This will undoubtedly supportvery promising 6Gwireless networking applications that demand high quality of service (QoS) requirementsand multi-terabits per second data transmission, such as terabit-per-second backhaul systems, ultra-high-definition content streaming among mobile devices, virtual/augmented reality,and wireless high-bandwidth secure communications.

As 5G wireless networks are deployed and commercializedglobally, THz bandis where fundamental scientific and engineering breakthroughs are expected to occur overthe next decade.It is highlighted that THz communications has been identified by the IEEE Communication Society as one of the nine communication technology trends to follow.Accordingly, rapidly increasing research endeavors have been devoted to THz communicationsover the past few years.

The overarching objective of this tutorial is to provide the audience with the necessary knowledge and skills to contribute to the development of wireless communication networks in the THz band towards the 6G era, focusing on physical layer solutions.At the end of this tutorial the participants will be able to:

  • Gain a fundamental understanding of the concepts and underlying principles of THz communications.
  • Obtain critical comprehension of the state-of-the-art theoretical advancement of THz communications, including device technologies, channel measurement and modeling, development of communication strategies and evaluation frameworks (e.g. modulations, multi-connectivity, and system-level performance analysis), design of signal processing algorithms (e.g. hybrid beamforming and error control), and existing experimental platforms.
  • Understand the opportunities and challenges brought by THz communications in supporting the deployment of 6G wireless networks in the not distant future.

Structure and content

  1. Introduction and overview of THz communications (approximately 30 minutes)
    1. Evolution of wireless networks
    2. Limitations of emerging wireless networks
    3. Exploration of the THz band for future wireless networks
  2. Advancement in THz device, channel measurement and modeling (approximately 45minutes)
    1. THz device technologies
    2. THz channel measurementand modeling
  3. Cutting-edgephysical layer solutions in THz communications (approximately 75minutes)
    1. System-level modeling and performance analytical framework
    2. Hybrid beamforming
    3. Ultra-broadband modulations
    4. Error control mechanisms
    5. Other physical layer solutions such as synchronization, security, and intelligent reflecting surface
    6. Prototyping and experimental outcomes
  4. Challenges and open issues in THz communications (approximately 30 minutes)
    1. THz device, channel measurement and modelling
    2. Physical layer strategies ofTHz communications
    3. Cross-layer design in THz networkingd)Other challenges imposed by the 6G era