T14: Terahertz Communications for 6G and Beyond: Challenges, Advances and Future Directions

Co-Organizer: Nan Yang, Australian National University, Australia
Co-Organizer: Chong Han, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Co-Organizer: Josep Miquel Jornet, Northeastern University, USA

Abstract: Terahertz (THz) communications is envisioned as a highly promising wireless technology for the sixth generation (6G) and beyond wireless networks. In particular, the ultra-wide THz band ranging from 0.1 to 10 THz offers enormous potential to alleviate the spectrum scarcity and break the capacity limitation of emerging wireless systems (such as 4G-LTE and 5G). This will undoubtedly support the epoch-making wireless applications that demand ultra-high quality of service requirements and multi-terabits per second data transmission in the 6G and beyond era, such as terabit-per-second backhaul systems, ultrahigh- definition content streaming among mobile devices, virtual/augmented reality, and wireless high-bandwidth secure communications.

Against this background, this tutorial will provide a comprehensive look at cutting-edge THz communications strategies for 6G and beyond wireless networks. To begin with, this tutorial will describe the importance of THz communications in the 6G and beyond era. Then, this tutorial will introduce the state-of-the-art fundamental research of THz devices, channels, testbeds, and simulators. After this, the tutorial will present a comprehensive survey of the THz communications solutions, including physical layer solutions (e.g., THz modulation and waveform de-sign, THz hybrid beamforming), networking strategies (e.g., THz interference and coverage analysis, THz beam tracking and alignment, and THz MAC protocols), and integration of THz communications with other 6G-oriented techniques (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicle, intelligent reflecting surface, and machine learning). Finally, this tutorial will identify and discuss the out-standing barriers that future wireless system designers must tackle to reap the full benefits of THz communications in the 6G and beyond era.

Nan Yang

Bio: Nan Yang received his Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering from Beijing Institute of Technology in 2011. Since July 2014, he has been with the Australian National University, Canberra, Australia, where he is currently an Associate Professor at the School of Engineering and the Head of the Emerging Communications Laboratory. He received the Top Editor Award from the Trans-actions on Emerging Telecommunications Technologies in 2017, the Exemplary Reviewer Certificate of the IEEE Transactions on Communications in 2016 and 2015, the Top Reviewer Award from the IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology in 2015, the IEEE ComSoc Asia-Pacific Outstanding Young Researcher Award and the Exemplary Reviewer Certificate of the IEEE Wireless Communications Letters in 2014, and the Exemplary Reviewer Certificate of the IEEE Communications Letters in 2013 and 2012. Also, he is the co-recipient of Best Paper Awards at the IEEE Globecom 2016 and the IEEE VTC Spring 2013. He is currently serving on the Editorial Board of IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications, IEEE Communications Letters, IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, and two other journals. He has also served as the Guest Editor of eight special issues in international leading journals and symposium/track chair at international flagship conferences such as IEEE ICC and IEEE Globecom. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE. Over the past years, he has published 1 book chapter and produced more than 10 journal and conference papers on THz communications. He organized two special issues on THz communications and served as the TPC Co-Chair of the 2021 IEEE ICC Workshop on THz communications. In addition, he has delivered three tutorials and five invited talks on THz communications in 2021.

Chong Han

Bio: Chong Han has been with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China since June 2016, where he is currently an Associate Professor and the Head of the Terahertz Wireless Communications (TWC) Laboratory. He obtained the Master of Science and the Ph.D. degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, in 2012 and 2016, respectively. He received 2019 Distinguished TPC Member Award, IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM) and 2018 Elsevier NanoComNet (Nano Com-munication Network Journal) Young Investigator Award, 2018 Shanghai Chenguang Funding Award, and 2017 Shanghai Yangfan Funding Award. He is an editor of Nano Communication Networks (Elsevier) Journal and IEEE Access. He is a TPC Co-Chair or General Co-Chair for the 1st–5th International Workshop on Terahertz Communications, in conjunction with IEEE ICC 2019, Globecom 2019, ICC 2020, ICC 2021, and ICC 2022. Furthermore, he is serving as a Vice Chair of IEEE ComSoc RCC Special Interest Group (SIG) on THz Communications. In addition, he has delivered six tutorials and more than 50 research talks on THz communications since 2019.

Josep Miquel Jornet

Bio: Josep M. Jornet is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Northeastern University, in Boston, MA. He received the B.S. in Telecommunication Engineering and the M.Sc. in Information and Communication Technologies from the Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain, in 2008. He received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, in 2013. He has coauthored more than 160 peer-reviewed scientific publications, 1 book, and also been granted 4 US patents. These works have been cited over 11,400 times (h-index of 48). Since July 2016, he is the Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s Nano Communication Networks Journal. He is serving as the lead principal investigator on multiple grants from U.S. federal agencies including the National Science Foundation, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Air Force Research La-boratory. He is a recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award and several other awards from IEEE, ACM, UB and NU. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE and Member of the ACM. He is serving as a Vice Chair of IEEE ComSoc RCC SIG on THz Communications, and has delivered more than 70 tutorials, keynote speeches and invited talks on THz communications since 2016. He is an IEEE ComSoc Distinguished Lecturer (class of 2022-2023).