Recent Progress on Terahertz Communications in NTT

Abstract

To date, demand for ultra-fast wireless communications has been accommodated with advanced modulation schemes and signal-processing technologies at microwave frequencies. However, without increasing the carrier frequencies for more spectral resources, it may be quite difficult to keep up with the needs of users. Though there are several alternative bands, recent advances in terahertz-wave (THz-wave) technologies have attracted attention due to the huge bandwidth of THz waves and its potential for use in wireless communications. The frequency band of 275 ~ 3000 GHz, which has not been allocated for specific uses yet, is especially of interest for future wireless systems with data rates of 10 Gbps or higher. Though THz communications is still in a very early stage of development, there have been lots of reports that show its potential. In a few years, NTT have been conducting feasibility study on THz communications at around 300 GHz and investigating some issues that need to be considered for the future of THz communications.