Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays

The increasing demand for high-speed wireless communications has led to the exploration of the terahertz (THz) band, where the broad available bandwidths promise significant data-rate improvements. However, propagation losses and the primarily line-of-sight (LoS) nature of THz channels present chall...

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Main Authors: Albert Diez-Comas, Duschia M. Bodet, Josep M. Jornet
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10922200/
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author Albert Diez-Comas
Duschia M. Bodet
Josep M. Jornet
author_facet Albert Diez-Comas
Duschia M. Bodet
Josep M. Jornet
author_sort Albert Diez-Comas
collection DOAJ
description The increasing demand for high-speed wireless communications has led to the exploration of the terahertz (THz) band, where the broad available bandwidths promise significant data-rate improvements. However, propagation losses and the primarily line-of-sight (LoS) nature of THz channels present challenges for implementing spatial multiplexing in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In this paper, we propose a tilted leaky-wave antenna (LWA) array architecture to enable spatial multiplexing by leveraging the frequency-dependent beam-steering capabilities of LWAs. We present the first experimental implementation of a sub-THz, 2-element tilted LWA array. Our experimental results demonstrate that distinct data streams can be transmitted simultaneously with minimal interference. We also provide an analysis of the achievable data rates as a function of number of antennas and tilting angle, showing significant improvements under specific conditions. We further investigate the potential of a staircase LWA array in a multiuser scenario, showing that LWAs could be deployed in access points (APs) to exploit spatial multiplexing. In addition, we present a capacity comparison of different antenna array technologies. These findings establish the potential of tilted LWA arrays for future (sub-)THz MIMO systems, offering a practical approach to overcome the limitations of conventional spatial multiplexing techniques.
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publisher IEEE
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spelling doaj-art-6b7a768f448d44e68b6d4dfd3087b3862025-08-20T02:12:24ZengIEEEIEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society2644-125X2025-01-0162293230710.1109/OJCOMS.2025.355030810922200Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna ArraysAlbert Diez-Comas0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8581-6101Duschia M. Bodet1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5069-7868Josep M. Jornet2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6351-1754Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USADepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USAThe increasing demand for high-speed wireless communications has led to the exploration of the terahertz (THz) band, where the broad available bandwidths promise significant data-rate improvements. However, propagation losses and the primarily line-of-sight (LoS) nature of THz channels present challenges for implementing spatial multiplexing in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems. In this paper, we propose a tilted leaky-wave antenna (LWA) array architecture to enable spatial multiplexing by leveraging the frequency-dependent beam-steering capabilities of LWAs. We present the first experimental implementation of a sub-THz, 2-element tilted LWA array. Our experimental results demonstrate that distinct data streams can be transmitted simultaneously with minimal interference. We also provide an analysis of the achievable data rates as a function of number of antennas and tilting angle, showing significant improvements under specific conditions. We further investigate the potential of a staircase LWA array in a multiuser scenario, showing that LWAs could be deployed in access points (APs) to exploit spatial multiplexing. In addition, we present a capacity comparison of different antenna array technologies. These findings establish the potential of tilted LWA arrays for future (sub-)THz MIMO systems, offering a practical approach to overcome the limitations of conventional spatial multiplexing techniques.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10922200/Leaky-wave antenna (LWA)communicationsarrayMIMOspatial multiplexingOFDM
spellingShingle Albert Diez-Comas
Duschia M. Bodet
Josep M. Jornet
Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays
IEEE Open Journal of the Communications Society
Leaky-wave antenna (LWA)
communications
array
MIMO
spatial multiplexing
OFDM
title Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays
title_full Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays
title_fullStr Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays
title_full_unstemmed Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays
title_short Enabling Sub-Terahertz Broadband MIMO Communications With Leaky-Wave Antenna Arrays
title_sort enabling sub terahertz broadband mimo communications with leaky wave antenna arrays
topic Leaky-wave antenna (LWA)
communications
array
MIMO
spatial multiplexing
OFDM
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10922200/
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AT duschiambodet enablingsubterahertzbroadbandmimocommunicationswithleakywaveantennaarrays
AT josepmjornet enablingsubterahertzbroadbandmimocommunicationswithleakywaveantennaarrays