Third Party Funds Group - Overall project
Acronym: ESSENCE-6GM
Start date : 01.10.2022
End date : 31.03.2026
MOTIVATION
Sixth-generation mobile communications (6G) will enable entirely new application scenarios in industry, medical technology and everyday life. This will be accompanied by new and higher requirements for latency, the transmittable data rate, spatial resolution, as well as data processing and energy management of the communication systems, which cannot be met at present. A promising technological solution is offered by the development of new radio frequencies up to the terahertz (THz) range. This can enable extremely high data rates and high-resolution sensing. For the realization of 6G, it is therefore important to develop energy-efficient THz receivers and transmitters with controllable directional characteristics, which have high signal quality and bandwidth. Among other things, optoelectronic technologies open up promising approaches to solutions here.
OBJECTIVES AND APPROACH
In the project "Industrializable key technologies for energy-efficient Tbit transceivers in 6G mobile radio systems - ESSENCE-6GM", solutions are being researched to realize transmit and receive modules for the frequency range just below terahertz radiation (sub-THz), which will be a critical component of future 6G systems. Economic efficiency and environmental compatibility are the top priorities for the technical implementation: the solutions must be cost-effective to implement in future industrial series productions and significantly more energy-efficient in operation compared to today's solutions. The project specifically addresses the critical weak points of today's transmitter and receiver systems: By introducing new concepts in analog and digital conversion, circuitry and module integration, transmitter and receiver units for sub-THz systems can be made more energy efficient and high performance. At the end of the project, it is planned to demonstrate a multi-antenna system capable of transmitting data rates of up to one terabit per second beyond 10 meters in selected usage scenarios.
INNOVATIONS AND PERSPECTIVES
The Essence-6GM project is developing components that enable high-performance transmission in the sub-THz range with high energy efficiency. Overall, the project is helping to ensure that Germany plays a leading role in shaping 6G standards and that the share of key components for 6G systems manufactured in Europe is increased. This is an essential contribution to strengthening the technological sovereignty of Germany and Europe.