Tektronix and French research laboratory IEMN demonstrated a single carrier wireless link operating at a 100-Gb/s data rate. The demonstration used advanced data coding, THz photonics, and wideband and linear devices to enable ultra-fast wireless connections in the 252 GHz to 325 GHz band per the recently published IEEE 802.15.3d standard.
The purpose of the new 802.15.3d standard is to provide for low complexity, low cost, low power consumption, very high data rate wireless connectivity among devices and in the future ‘low THz’ bands. Potential applications include consumer multimedia, wireless switched point-to-point applications in data centers, wireless backhaul/front haul, intra-device communications and a wide variety of additional use cases such as rapid large multimedia data downloads and file exchanges between two devices near.
Achieving 100 Gb/s and beyond requires the extension of carrier frequencies to the millimeter/sub-millimeter range, around 300 GHz, also called the “THz band.” Using a combination of optical coherent technologies and THz transceivers, this latest demonstration showcased the advances being made toward operational wireless links with THz frequencies and optical-equivalent data rates.
The Tektronix test equipment used in the IEMN demonstration included an AWG70000 Series 50GS/s arbitrary waveform generator, DPO70000SX 70GHz oscilloscopes and an OM5110 46GBd coherent optical transmitter.