Scalable photonic-enabled multi-antenna systems for next-generation wireless communication, sensing and localization applications

A significant performance improvement is needed for future generation wireless systems to keep pace with the ever-increasing demands put forward by the Internet-of-Everything, Industry 4.0, and the beyond-5G mobile network. Yet, the current all-electronic approach and the conventional diakoptic design strategy form major roadblocks to fully exploit the available frequency spectrum. This project conceives a holistic framework to realize high-performance and broadband multi-antenna systems that leverage the advantages of photonic and electronic systems, while guaranteeing scalability. The key benefits of photonic integrated circuits, such as broadband beam steering, excellent electromagnetic immunity and low losses, will be combined with innovative active antenna systems, yielding unprecedented performance in terms of bandwidth, efficiency and footprint. Ultimately, this will lead to groundbreaking photonic-enabled wireless systems, acting as game changers in many applications.