Fabian Kurz

All Active MMIC-Based Wireless Communication at 220 GHz

A wireless data link operating at a carrier frequency of 220 GHz is supporting a data rate of up to 25 Gbit/s in on-off-keyed PRBS as well as complex 256-QAM (quadrature amplitude modulation) transmission. The millimeter-wave transmit and receive frontends consist of active multi-functional millimeter-wave microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), realized in 50 nm mHEMT technology and packaged into split-block waveguide modules. The paper presents system considerations for wireless links in the 200-300-GHz range, discusses the design and performance of dedicated broadband transmit and receive MMICs, and presents link experiments. With an RF transmit power of -3.4-1.4 dBm in the IF frequency range from 0 to 20 GHz , a receiver conversion gain of better than -4.8 dB up to 270 GHz and an estimated noise figure of less than 7.5 dB at 220 GHz, a 231-1 PRBS with a data rate of up to 25 Gbit/s is transmitted over 50 cm and received with an eye diagram quality factor >;3 . At 10 Gbit/s, an uncorrected bit-error rate (BER) of 1.6·10-9 is measured over a distance of 2 m. A 256-QAM signal with approx. 14 Mbit/s is received with an uncorrected BER of 9.1·10-4.

System concept and implementation of a mmW wireless link providing data rates up to 25 Gbit/s

A system concept for a high data rate wireless link in the frequency range from 200 to 280 GHz is presented. The link is based on fully integrated millimeter wave circuits (MMICs) and promises data rates up to 40Gbit/s over a distance of one kilometer. A demonstrator working at a carrier frequency of 220 GHz serves as a proof-of-concept. Measurements with this demonstrator show data rates up to 25 Gbit/s for a coherent receiving scheme over a distance of 60 cm as well as a bit error rate of 5 × 10−4 at 25Gbit/s.

Lightweight power line communications for Smart Grid applications with standard RFID tags

This paper introduces a lightweight power line communication system on the basis of an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) approach. Standard passive LF (low frequency) RFID components for the 125 kHz band are connected to power lines of a low-voltage grid in order to establish a communication, where one side consists of passive transponders. Such a system can be used for various applications within a Smart Grid which require low complexity, low deployment costs and high reliability. The paper demonstrates the feasibility of such a system in a low voltage environment with particular attention on the coupling circuitry.