Novel Millimetre-Wave and Sub-THz Components for 5G Communications and Beyond

The project focuses on development of various novel millimetre-wave component at 28GHz for the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communications based on i.e. substrate-integrated waveguides (SIW) and 3D printing techniques. Furthermore, the project will also develop, based on the previously proposed technology, functional sub-terahertz (sub-THz) devices beyond 150GHz to serve as building blocks for beyond 5G communication, aiming at data rate beyond 100Gpbs and agile communication system, meaning that the sub-THz frontends is reconfigurable depending on the requirements of the end subscribers.
3D printing and laser tooling techniques, supported by The EPSRC National Facility for Innovative Robotic Systems, are used to manufacture the prototypes, introducing state-of-the-art fabricating technologies for millimetre-wave and sub-THz components, especially beyond 150GHz. The fabricated prototypes will be characterised by using cutting-edge measurement facility at the Pollard Institute, University of Leeds, including 1.1THz Network Analyser.
The novel microwave and millimetre-wave components, which will be investigated, are:
- Flexible hollow SIW transmission line at 28GHz with biocompatible and biodegradable materials for wearable on-body communications.
- Low-cost hollow SIW transmission line beyond 150GHz based on 3D-printing and subtractive laser manufacturing techniques.
- Flexible reconfigurable antenna system at 28GHz for agile beam-steering subsystems.
- Functional millimetre-wave devices at 28GHz based on the flexible hollow SIW structures.
- Tuneable antenna subsystem beyond 150GHz for higher than 100Gbps for beyond 5G mobile and wireless communication systems.
- Functional sub-THz devices beyond 150GHz based on 3D-printed hollow SIW structures.
The main goal of the project is to developed the mentioned functional devices that can provide a long-term impact on various UK and international societies, i.e. communication technologies, internet-of-things (IoT) and etc. The outcomes of the project will also support the current EPSRC research projects (EP/N010523/1 and EP/N005686/1) by integrating the developed the millimetre-wave and sub-THz components to the robotic system, enabling high-speed and agile robotic communications.
The research results generated from this project will also be published, aiming at high-ranked peer-review journals e.g. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, Nature Communications and Nature Photonics, which will support the 2020-REF application for the Pollard Institute.