Wave Propagation and Channel Modeling in Chip-Scale Wireless Communications: A Survey from Millimeter-Wave to Terahertz and Optics

Abstract

The miniaturization of transceivers and antennas is enabling the development of Wireless Networks-on-Chip (WNoC), in which chip-scale communication is utilized to increase the computing performance of multi-core/multi-chip architectures. Although the potential benefits of the WNoC paradigm have been studied in depth, its practicality remains unclear due to the lack of a proper characterization of the wireless channel at the chip scale and across the spectrum, among others. In this paper, the state of the art in wave propagation and channel modeling for chip-scale communication is surveyed. First, the peculiarities of WNoC, including the design drivers, architecture, environment, and on-chip electromagnetics are reviewed. After a brief description of the different methods to characterize wave propagation at chip-scales, a comprehensive discussion covering the different works at millimeter-wave (mmWave), Terahertz (THz) and optical frequencies is provided. Finally, the major challenges in the characterization of the WNoC channel and potential solutions to address them are discussed, providing a roadmap for the foundations of practical WNoCs.