Liu Et Al - 2023 - Toward Sub Terahertz

RESEARCH ARTICLE
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Toward Sub-Terahertz: Space-Time Coding Metasurface

Transmitter for Wideband Wireless Communications
Yujie Liu, Yu Wang, Xiaojian Fu,* Lei Shi, Fei Yang, Jiang Luo, Qun Yan Zhou, Yuan Fu,
Qi Chen, Jun Yan Dai, Lei Zhang, Qiang Cheng, and Tie Jun Cui*
1. Introduction
A space-time coding metasurface (STCM) operating in the sub-terahertz band
to construct new-architecture wireless communication systems is proposed. Next-generation wireless communication
systems are expected to achieve unprece-
Specifically, a programmable STCM is designed with varactor-diode-tuned
dented communication rates of Tbps, ultra-
metasurface elements, enabling precise regulation of harmonic amplitudes low latency of sub-milliseconds, greater
and phases by adjusting the time delay and duty cycle of square-wave reliability, denser connectivity, and sup-
modulation signal loaded on the varactor diodes. Independent port for extremely precise positioning, im-
electromagnetic (EM) regulations in the space and time domains are achieved mersive interactive experiences, and multi-
by STCM to realize flexible beam manipulations and information modulations. dimensional perception.[1] To meet these
demands, ample spectrum resources are re-
Based on these features, a sub-terahertz wireless communication link is
quired, which cannot be satisfied by the
constructed by employing STCM as a transmitter. Experimental results existing communication bands, necessitat-
demonstrate that the STCM supports multiple modulation schemes including ing an expansion toward terahertz bands
frequency-shift keying, phase-shift keying, and quadrature amplitude with rich spectrum resources.[2–4] The sub-
modulations in a wide frequency band. It is also shown that the STCM is terahertz band has been proposed for
communication applications recently, and
capable of realizing wide-angle beam scanning in the range of ±45o , which
new radio technologies have been devel-
offers an opportunity for user tracking during the communication. Thus, the oped in 90–200 GHz with performance be-
STCM transmitter with high device density and low power consumption can yond 5G.[5–7] However, conventional wire-
provide low-complexity, low-cost, low-power, and low-heat solutions for less communication transmitters typically
building the next-generation wireless communication systems in the consist of signal modulation, digital-to-
sub-terahertz frequency and even terahertz band. analog conversion, mixing, radiation, and
other essential parts.[8] Designing commu-
nication systems based on the conven-
tional technology in the sub-terahertz band
requires numerous high-performance radio frequency (RF) links
and antennas, which makes the communication system both
complex and expensive.[9] Moreover, large free-space attenuation
Y. Liu, Y. Wang, X. Fu, L. Shi, F. Yang, Q. Y. Zhou, Y. Fu, Q. Chen, J. Y. Dai,
L. Zhang, Q. Cheng, T. J. Cui in the sub-terahertz band necessitates a highly directional beam
State Key Laboratory of Millimeter Waves to reduce aggregated co-channel interference and severe prop-
Southeast University agation loss.[7,10] This poses a challenge for signal coverage in
Nanjing 210096, China sub-terahertz communication. Thus a cost-effective solution with
X. Fu, J. Y. Dai, L. Zhang, Q. Cheng, T. J. Cui wide signal coverage for sub-terahertz communication systems is
Institute of Electromagnetic Space
Southeast University urgently needed.
Nanjing 210096, China Metasurface shines a new light on the architecture of the
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] sub-terahertz communication transmitter. The metasurface is
J. Luo a 2D variant of metamaterial, typically comprising arrays of
School of Electronics and Information subwavelength artificial elements with deep subwavelength
Hangzhou Dianzi University
thicknesses.[11–13] Its unique properties that allow for flexible ma-
Hangzhou 310018, China
nipulations of electromagnetic (EM) waves generate widespread
interest in the scientific community. Recently, digital coding
The ORCID identification number(s) for the author(s) of this article metasurfaces and programmable metasurfaces have been suc-
can be found under https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202304278
cessively developed, forging a connection between EM physics
© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons
and digital information.[14–17] This has led to the realization of a
Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in range of fascinating applications such as anomalous refraction
any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. and reflection of EM beams,[18,19] dynamic beamforming,[20–22]
DOI: 10.1002/advs.202304278 polarization modulation,[23,24] vortex beam generation,[25,26] and
Adv. Sci. 2023, 10, 2304278 2304278 (1 of 12) © 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH
21983844, 2023, 29, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202304278, Wiley Online Library on [08/01/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
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holographic imaging.[27–29] Subsequently, time-domain digital cise controls of harmonic phases and amplitudes, enables the in-
coding metasurfaces were proposed, and hence the manipula- tegration of communication transmitters and beam steering sys-
tion of EM waves is extended from the space domain to the tems. We design a 1-bit phase coding metasurface and employ
time domain, and the functionalities of metasurfaces are greatly reverse-biased varactor diodes as the phase-shifting components
expanded,[30,31] including nonlinear harmonic regulation,[32] ef- in STCM to effectively avoid the generation of excessive heat and
ficient frequency synthesis,[33] multi-polarization conversion,[34] high power consumption that occur in high-density STCM. Sub-
and nonlinear convolution operations.[35] Furthermore, space- sequently, a sophisticated method is presented to control the re-
time coding metasurface (STCM) combines the encoding of EM flection amplitudes and phases of harmonics by precisely adjust-
characteristics in both time and space domains.[36] This allows ing the time delay and duty cycle between the switching periods
for the simultaneous controls of wave propagation direction in of different units. Afterward, we propose a straightforward space-
the space domain and the manipulation of spectral distribution time uncoupled coding method that achieves independent con-
in the frequency domain,[37] and integrates richer functions in a trols in both space and time domains. Accordingly, the commu-
single device.[38] nication transmitter and beam scanning can be simultaneously
Now the programmable metasurface has emerged as a promis- implemented with the STCM. The accurately computed time-
ing technology for wireless communications. By manipulating domain coding allows for realizing various modulation schemes
the propagation path of EM waves, the metasurface can recon- such as frequency shift keying (FSK), phase shift keying (PSK),
figure the wireless environment to solve the signal coverage and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), demonstrating
problems.[39–41] The time-domain coding metasurface offers the the versatile and robust modulation capabilities of the designed
ability to modulate the EM spectra in real time, enabling low- STCM transmitter. Finally, a broadband sub-terahertz wireless
cost wireless communication transmitters.[42–45] Definitely, the communication system is constructed by employing the STCM
current attempts to apply for the time-domain coding metasur- transmitter. The simplified conceptual diagram of the wireless
faces in communication systems have been focused primarily on communication system is shown in Figure 1, which operates in
low and medium frequency bands. In the millimeter-wave band a wide frequency band (81.25–94.65 GHz) and effectively imple-
≈28 GHz, space-domain coding metasurface and time-domain ments a range of modulation schemes, with the optimal results
coding metasurface have been investigated for communication at 88 GHz. We also experimentally demonstrate that the system
transmitters and beamforming.[44,46] However, the metasurface- produces beamforming and beam scanning performance within
based wideband communication system capable of implement- ±45o , which is sufficient for effective user tracking in most sce-
ing multiple modulation schemes while integrating the infor- narios and well suited for narrow-beam directional communica-
mation modulation and beamforming simultaneously is rarely tions in the sub-terahertz frequencies. The proposed STCM of-
reported. The STCM can present an opportunity to develop a fers low-complexity, cost-effective, low-power, and low-heat solu-
novel wireless communication transmitter that seamlessly inte- tions for constructing an intelligently controlled wireless prop-
grates beam steering and information modulation, enabling an agation environment in the sub-terahertz frequency, catering
active, intelligent, and controllable wireless communication en- to the requirements of next-generation wireless communication
vironment. systems.
Additionally, we remark that significant advancements
have been achieved in manipulating terahertz waves using 2. Design of STCM in the Sub-Terahertz Frequency
metasurfaces.[47,48] Several noteworthy outcomes have been
reported regarding the modulations of the terahertz waves using We design STCM to operate at a target frequency of 94 GHz, with
metasurfaces.[49,50] However, the application of metasurfaces for its unit structure illustrated in Figure 2a. The unit structure com-
space information modulations in the terahertz frequencies, par- prises three distinct layers, in which the bottom of the quartz sub-
ticularly in the context of communications, and the integration strate is covered with gold film to reflect the EM waves, while two
of information modulation with beam steering, have not been symmetrical stepped metal patches are etched onto its top sur-
extensively explored. This is primarily attributed to the fact that face. A flip-chip varactor diode is centrally attached between the
the programmable metasurfaces designed for terahertz-wave two metal patches, serving as a tuning element. The two metal
regulations typically rely on tunable materials, such as liquid patches are connected to the DC signal and ground, respectively.
crystals[51] and vanadium dioxide.[52,53] These materials face The equivalent circuit of the STCM is depicted in Figure 2b. As
some challenges in the terahertz frequencies, including long the bias voltage applied across the varactor diode is altered, its ca-
response time and complex control, which inevitably increase pacitance will change, which leads to the tunable reflection prop-
the difficulty of terahertz time-domain modulation. Moreover, erty of the STCM unit (see Note S1, Supporting Information, for
the substantial propagation loss in the sub-terahertz neces- more details).
sitates the use of directional beams for precise user tracking The detailed geometric design is presented in Figure 2c,d, with
during communications.[4,54] Therefore, the development of the following parameters: p = 1500 μm, l1 = 690 μm, l2 = 980 μm,
sub-terahertz STCM capable of efficient information modulation h1 = 77.5 μm, h2 = 130 μm, h3 = 425 μm, g = 55 μm, a = 665 μm, b
and beam scanning is urgently needed to realize cost-effective = 340 μm, t1 = 0.3 μm, t2 = 200 μm, and t3 = 175 μm. The flip-chip
and efficient wireless communications in the next-generation varactor diode employed in this design is MACOM’s MA46H146,
systems. which supports a reverse bias voltage of up to 25 V. Simulation
Here, we present an STCM operating in the sub-terahertz fre- results indicate that the reflected phase of the unit corresponds to
quency range, along with a space-time domain-separated coding 𝜃 (code “0”) when the bias voltage is 0; while the reflected phase
method. This method, which is based on independent and pre- of the unit corresponds to 𝜃 + 𝜋 (code “1”) when the bias voltage
Figure 1. The conceptual diagram of the sub-terahertz wireless communication system based on the STCM transmitter. The data intended for transmis-
sion are mapped into the control signals for STCM through a control module composed of a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and driver circuitry.
By precisely controlling the varactor diodes in different STCM units, which is enabled by control signals composed of square waves with varying time
delays and duty cycles, we can achieve accurate modulations of amplitudes and phases of the reflection harmonics, thereby integrating the information
modulation and beamforming. The incident sub-terahertz waves can be modulated by STCM using different modulation schemes, such as FSK, PSK,
and QAM, while beam steering is simultaneously achieved. The receiver processes the modulated sub-terahertz signals and reconstructs the original
data information, which is then displayed on the host computer.
Figure 2. a) Perspective view of the STCM unit operating at 94 GHz, which consists of three distinct layers. b) The equivalent circuit of the unit structure.
c) The top layer of the STCM unit is etched with two symmetrical stepped gold patches with flip-chip varactor diodes attached to them. As seen from
(d) the side view, the middle layer is a quartz substrate, with its bottom covered by a gold film. e) S11 simulated results of the STCM unit when the bias
voltage is 0 (code “0”) and 24 V (code “1”), respectively.
is 24 V, as detailed in Note S2 (Supporting Information). From coding state. Owing to the constraints in processing and com-
Figure 2e, we note that the phase difference between the two ponents, we can only independently control the STCM units col-
states reaches 𝜋 at 94 GHz, with an identical reflection loss of umn by column. As depicted in Figure 2c, the coding varies along
6 dB. On this basis, the optimized unit structure can be used to the y-direction. In accordance with the generalized Snell’s law of
design the 1-bit STCM. To further validate the STCM’s ability to reflection,[18] the direction of the reflected beam is determined by
manipulate the EM waves, we arrange the STCM in a specific the phase gradient across the metasurface. When the EM wave is
normally incident on the STCM from the air, the following equa- where t0 is the time delay and u(t) is a square-wave function with
tion holds period T0 and duty cycle D. Γ(t) can further be represented as a
( ) Fourier series as follows
𝜆 d𝜙
𝜃r = arcsin (1) ∑
+∞
2𝜋ni dy Γ(t) = Γ2 + an ejn𝜔0 (t−t0 ) (5)
n=−∞
where 𝜃 r denotes the reflection angle, 𝜆 represents the working
wavelength, ni indicates the refractive index of air, and dϕ/dy sig- in which an = hDSa(n𝜋D), 𝜔0 = 2𝜋f0 , and h depends on the two
nifies the phase gradient along the y-axis. Consequently, the re- states of the square-wave signal h = Γ1 − Γ2 =|h|ej𝜑 0 .
quired phase ϕm for the m-th column of the STCM can be ex- Reflection coefficient in the frequency domain: To analyze the char-
pressed as acteristics of harmonics more intuitively, we rewrite the reflection
coefficient in the frequency domain
2𝜋ni
𝜙m = − mdy sin 𝜃r + 𝜙0 (2) ∑
+∞
𝜆 Γ(f ) = Γ2 𝛿(f ) + an e−jn𝜔0 t0 𝛿(f − nf0 ) (6)
n=−∞
where dy is the period length of the STCM unit along the y-
direction and ϕ0 is the initial phase. From Equation (1), the reflec- Reflected wave in the frequency domain: Suppose that Ei (f) is a
tion angle 𝜃 r is not related to ϕ0 ; thus, we let ϕ0 = 0. Quantization monochromatic plane wave with the frequency of fc . Then the
of the continuous values calculated from Equation (2) results in reflected wave Er (f) can be expressed as
the subsequent equation
∑
+∞
{ Er (f ) = Γ(f − fc ) = Γ2 𝛿(f − fc ) + an e−jn𝜔0 t0 𝛿(f − fc − nf0 ) (7)

0, 0 ≤ 𝜙m < 𝜋 n=−∞
code(m) = (3)
1, 𝜋 ≤ 𝜙m < 2𝜋
Amplitude and phase coefficients: According to Equation (7), the
Based on this, we can compute the coding states for a specific amplitude and phase of the reflected harmonic are influenced by
reflection angle, facilitating dynamic beamforming. As the cod- the difference between the two states of the square-wave signal,
ing metasurface manipulates the EM waves solely in the space the duty cycle, and the time delay. The amplitude and phase co-
domain at this stage, we refer to it as space-domain coding. We efficients of the n-th harmonic can be written as
design the metasurface with a variety of coding states and nu- A = |h| DSa(n𝜋D), 0 ≤ D ≤ 1∕2 |n|
merically simulate the far-field scattering patterns of the meta- (8)
𝜑 = 𝜑0 − n𝜔0 t0 , 0 ≤ t0 < T0 ∕ |n|
surface. The results demonstrate that the designed STCM is capa-
ble of achieving beam scanning within the ±55o range (see Note Thus, by maintaining the two states of the square-wave signal
S3, Supporting Information, for more details). This indicates that constant, we are able to control the amplitude and phase of the
the STCM possesses dynamic beamforming capabilities, laying harmonics through the manipulation of the duty cycle D and the
the groundwork for further employing the time-domain coding time delay t0 . Notably, as demonstrated by Equation (8), these two
to control STCM and construct the STCM communication trans- parameters exhibit no coupling, which facilitates the straightfor-
mitter and beam scanning system. ward regulation of the amplitude and phase of the reflected har-
monic by employing the direct output of the square wave gener-
ated by the FPGA and drive circuit.
3. Manipulation of Harmonics by Time-Domain Owing to the constraints of fabrication process and active com-
Coding ponents, designing a multi-bit metasurface in the sub-terahertz
frequency presents a significant challenge, limiting the flexibil-
The proposed STCM can control its reflection phase in the sub- ity of the coding metasurface for manipulating EM waves. How-
terahertz range by tuning the voltage applied to the varactor ever, by incorporating time delays, it is possible to transform the
diode. By controlling the bias voltage using an FPGA and drive 1-bit metasurface into STCM capable of operating in multi-bit
circuit in a time-varying manner, the reflection phase of the by exploiting the harmonics. Simultaneously, harmonic ampli-
STCM will also vary over time. This enables dynamic controls tude can be modulated by controlling the duty cycle. To clarify the
over each order harmonic component of the reflected wave us- modulation relationship between the time delay and duty cycle of
ing the methods described below. the square-wave modulation signal on the phases and amplitudes
Reflection coefficient in the time domain: The STCM unit can gen- of the harmonics, calculations are conducted under the condi-
erate two distinct reflection coefficients, denoted as Γ1 = A1 ej𝜑1 tions of A1 = A2 = 1, 𝜑1 = 𝜋, and 𝜑2 = 0, as illustrated in Figure 3.
and Γ2 = A2 ej𝜑2 , where A1 and A2 denote the reflection ampli- As shown in Figure 3a, when the duty cycle D varies from 0.5 to
tudes, while 𝜑1 and 𝜑2 represent the reflection phases. Thus, the 0.1, the amplitude distribution of the harmonics changes, while
reflection coefficient Γ(t) of the metasurface can be seen as a pe- the phase distribution remains constant or exhibits a phase dif-
riodic square wave with two states Γ1 and Γ2 , which could be ex- ference of 𝜋. In contrast, when the time delay t0 shifts from 0 to
pressed as T0 /2, the amplitude distribution of the harmonics stays consis-
tent, whereas the phase distribution changes, which is demon-
Γ(t) = Γ2 + (Γ1 − Γ2 ) ⋅ u(t − t0 ) (4) strated in Figure 3b–d. This observation highlights the simplicity
Figure 3. The modulation relationship of square wave modulation signals with different duty cycles and different time delays to the amplitude and phase
of harmonics. a) Square wave signals with different duty cycles will result in different harmonic amplitude distributions. Harmonic phase distributions
under the control of b) t0 = 0, c) t0 = T0 /4, and d) t0 = T0 /2 square wave signals, respectively.
Figure 4. a,b) Calculations and experiments are performed by controlling the +1 harmonic phase by altering the time delay of the square-wave control
signal, enabling the beam deflections, in which Coding State 1 (1123 0123 0112 3012), Coding State 2 (0123 0123 0123 0123), Coding State 3 (0123
0120 1230 1201), and Coding State 4 (0123 1230 2301 3012) correspond to −30°, −35°, −40°, and −45°, respectively. c) The experimental results in
modulating the harmonic amplitudes by changing the duty cycle of the modulation signal.
of controlling the phase and amplitude of harmonics by adjusting a duty cycle of 0.5, and time delays of 0, − T0 /4, − 2T0 /4, and −
the time delay and duty cycle of the modulation signal. 3T0 /4, were employed. Based on Equation (8) and assuming 𝜑0
To validate the proposed harmonic control approach, a 16 × 8 = 0, these signals can produce phase-shifted states of 0, 𝜋/2, 𝜋,
STCM sample was fabricated based on the design process. The and 3𝜋/2 for the +1st order harmonics, respectively, while main-
stepped metal patch and electrodes connected to the external con- taining a constant amplitude. This result is consistent with the
trol circuit were produced on the quartz substrate using a pho- characteristics of a 2-bit coding metasurface. The four time-delay
tolithographic technique. The varactor diode was secured at the signals can be encoded as “0”, “1”, “2”, and “3”, respectively.
designated position on the metal patches through the conductive Therefore, we calculated the coding states for specific deflection
silver paste. The metal backplane on the bottom was also created angles in a manner similar to Equations (2) and (3), and simu-
via photolithography. The metal electrodes of each sub-array were lated and measured the far-field scattering patterns. The results
connected to the PCB using conductive tape, and control signals are displayed in Figure 4a,b. As the time-domain approach at
were applied through pads on the PCB. Due to limitations in the this stage enables the STCM to achieve the response of only four
processing and fabrication procedures, the actual fabricated sam- phase states, we also manipulate the +1st order harmonic in the
ples function optimally at 88 GHz (see Note S4, Supporting In- space-domain using solely these four phase states. This process
formation, for more details). is still a space-domain coding for the +1st order harmonic,
Considering the aforementioned scenario, further validation except that the four-phase states are generated by switching the
was conducted by performing the +1st order harmonic beam time delay signal, an effect akin to that produced by regulated
steering experiments at the frequency of 88 GHz using STCM. voltage. Due to the tuning of the harmonic phase, the deflection
Four distinct modulation signals, with a frequency of 1.25 MHz, angle of the main lobe in the measured far-field pattern aligns
well with the simulated outcomes. To further validate the con- According to Equation (1) and (8), and the experiments in Sec-
trol of the harmonic amplitude by the modulation signal, we tion 3, it is evident that the space coding of the +1st order har-
selected the coding states with a deflection angle of −35o , altered monic results in a symmetrical −1st order harmonic with the
the duty cycle of the signal, and measured its spectrogram, as incident direction. Consequently, by reversing the space coding
illustrated in Figure 4c. According to the results in Figure 3, for of the +1st order harmonic at a specific angle, a −1st order har-
the +1st order harmonics, we normalize the amplitude values monic can be obtained at the same angle (see Note S5, Support-
and express them in dB. The gains for D = 0.5, 0.19, and 0.1 are ing Information, for more details). For instance, the space coding
≈0, −5 dB, and −10 dB, respectively. The measured gains are 0, “0123 0123 0123 0123” can yield a +1st order harmonic with a de-
−4.97 dB, and −9.94 dB, respectively, indicating that the mod- flection angle of −35o , while its reverse space coding “3210- 3210
ulation signal can effectively regulate the harmonic amplitude. 3210 3 210” will produce a −1st order harmonic at the same an-
The harmonic phase and amplitude can be well controlled using gle. Therefore, we can utilize the −1st order harmonic frequency
the modulation signal with varying time delay and duty cycle, as f1 and the +1st order harmonic frequency as f2 . For more com-
providing a solid foundation for the subsequent implementation plex FSK communication, it can be implemented by altering the
of complex functions such as information modulation and beam frequency of the modulation signal, enabling us to achieve FSK
scanning in the sub-terahertz frequency range using the STCM. communication effectively.
For standard quadrature PSK (QPSK) modulations, the set of
constellations is given by
4. Design of Sub-Terahertz Wireless { 𝜋 3𝜋 5𝜋 7𝜋 }
Communication Transmitter Based on STCM Γm (t) ∈ M = ej 4 , ej 4 , ej 4 , ej 4 , |M| = 4, m = 0, 1, 2, 3 (10)
In conventional wireless communication systems, the modula-
tion process usually involves controlling the carrier-wave param- To implement the QPSK modulation, we only need to mod-
eters with the modulating signal, so that one or more carrier-wave ulate the phase coefficients of the reflected harmonics to gen-
parameters will vary according to the modulating signal’s pattern. erate the appropriate Γm (t). According to Equation (8), we can
The modulated carrier signal retains all the characteristics of the easily establish the mapping relationship between the duty cy-
modulating signal. After frequency conversion to high frequency cle D, the time delay t0 , and Γm (t) = Aej𝜑 . As inferred in Sec-
by the RF module, the signal can be transmitted via an antenna tion 3, selecting the appropriate time delay t0 allows us to ob-
for data transmission. As discussed in the previous section, the tain the desired constellation set. For the +1st order harmonic,
frequency, phase, and amplitude of the reflected harmonics can we only need to set the time delay t0 of the modulation signal
be controlled by loading STCM with modulation signals of vary- to be 7T0 /8, 5T0 /8, 3T0 /8, and T0 /8 respectively, with the duty
ing frequencies, time delays, and duty cycles. To facilitate the im- cycle D consistently maintained at 0.5. And hence, the phase
plementation of diverse modulation schemes, such as FSK, PSK, states of the four reflected signals can satisfy the constellation
t
and QAM, we need only to ensure that the frequency, phase, and set. For convenience, we introduce the covariate 𝛾D0 to represent
amplitude of the reflected harmonics change according to the the combination of duty cycle D and time delay t0 as the ba-
specific time patterns. These time patterns are defined as time sis for time coding. With this covariate, the set of constellation
0.875T 0.625T 0.375T 0.125T
codings, which allow for the mapping of transmitted information maps can be represented as {𝛾0.5 0 , 𝛾0.5 0 , 𝛾0.5 0 , 𝛾0.5 0 }. Ad-
to the corresponding time coding based on various modulation ditionally, taking into account the amplitude coefficient |h| and
schemes while maintaining the phase gradient induced by space phase coefficient 𝜑0 (induced by the difference of the modu-
coding either unchanged or reversed. lation signal between two states) added to each order of har-
To facilitate communication, it is crucial to establish a map- monics, as well as the distortion and amplitude attenuation |hv |
ping between the data message symbols and the reflection co- and the additional phase change |𝜑v | caused by STCM during
efficients Γ(t). We can decompose Γ(t) into the product of the transmission, the actually received constellation set should be
complex reflection coefficient Γm (t), derived from the mapping of |h||hv |ej(𝜑0 +𝜑v ) {ej0.25𝜋 , ej0.75𝜋 , ej1.25𝜋 , ej1.75𝜋 }∕𝜋. In this case, the re-
message symbols, and the fundamental pulse-shaping function ceived constellation map is normalized and phase-corrected to
g(t). The relationship can be expressed as follows convert it to a standard constellation map.
To further demonstrate the potential of the designed STCM for
Γ(t) = Γm (t)g(t), 0 ≤ t ≤ T ′ , Γm (t) ∈ M (9) next-generation wireless communication systems, we have im-
plemented higher-order modulation of sub-terahertz communi-
where T′ represents the duration of a data symbol and M repre- cation by utilizing the phase and amplitude modulation capabil-
sents a constellation point set with a basis size of |M|. In wireless ities of the STCM for reflected harmonics. In this paper, we ver-
communication, each data symbol Γm (t) carries log 2 |M|-bit data. ify the QAM scheme by implementing the 16QAM. By applying
During the duration of a single data symbol, Γm (t) = Aej𝜑 ,0 ≤ t similar methods, we can further realize 64QAM and 256QAM
≤ T′. Additionally, as demonstrated in Figure (4), to achieve high schemes. In the future, after optimizing the hardware structure,
modulation power efficiency, we conduct wireless communica- we may also achieve more advanced modulation schemes such as
tion using the 1st order harmonic. 1024QAM and 4096QAM. Our STCM holds significant promise
For standard binary FSK (BFSK) modulations, the set of con- for next-generation wireless communication systems.
stellations is given by Γm (t) = ej2𝜋fm t , fm ∈ M = {f1 , f2 }, where f1 In line with the established communication theories and the
and f2 represent the required frequencies for BFSK modulation. earlier elaborations on FSK and QPSK modulation schemes, the
Figure 5. a,b) Transmitter and receiver of integrated communication transmitter and beam scanning system based on STCM.
constellation points for the standard 16QAM configuration are as At the transmitter side (Figure 5a), the host computer decodes
follows the information (e.g., images, videos, and other file types) into
a binary bit stream for transmission to the baseband mod-
⎧ √ √ ⎫ ule. The bit stream is subsequently mapped to the correspond-
⎪ej0.75𝜋 , 5 j0.6𝜋 5 j0.4𝜋 ⎪
e , e , ej0.25𝜋 , ing time coding based on different modulation schemes. For
⎪ 3 3 ⎪
⎪√ √ ⎪ BFSK, by mapping “0” to “f1 ” and “1” to “f2 ”, the time cod-
⎪ 5 ej0.9𝜋 , 1 j0.75𝜋
e ,
1 j0.25𝜋
e ,
5 j0.1𝜋 ⎪
e , ing is similar to “f1 f2 f2 f1 f2 ⋅⋅⋅”. For QPSK, “00” is mapped to
⎪ ⎪
Γm (t) ∈ M = ⎨ √3 3 3 √3
0.625T 0.875T 0.375T
⎬ “𝛾0.5 0 ”, “01” is mapped to “𝛾0.5 0 ”, “10” is mapped to “𝛾0.5 0 ”,
⎪ 5 −j0.9𝜋 1 −j0.75𝜋 1 −j0.25𝜋 5 −j0.1𝜋 ⎪ 0.125T
and “11” is mapped to “𝛾0.5 0 ”, with the time coding resem-
⎪ 3 e ,
3√
e ,
3√
e ,
3
e ,⎪
0.375T0 0.375T0 0.625T0 0.875T0 0.125T0
⎪ ⎪ bling “𝛾0.5 𝛾0.5 𝛾0.5 𝛾0.5 𝛾0.5 ⋯”. For other higher-
⎪ −j0.75𝜋 5 −j0.6𝜋 5 −j0.4𝜋 −j0.25𝜋 ⎪ order modulation schemes, such as MPSK and QAM, the map-
⎪e ,
3
e ,
3
e , e ⎪
⎩ ⎭ ping process is similar. Subsequently, the time coding is coupled
|M| = 16, m = 0, 1, ⋅ ⋅ ⋅, 14, 15 to the space coding, derived from the user’s position information
relative to the STCM, to obtain the final control signal, which is
(11) output by the digital input-output (IO) module of the FPGA. In
this process, for BFSK, once the space coding of the +1st order
The standard constellation diagram reveals that 16QAM ne- harmonic is determined, its beam pointing is established, and the
cessitates further modulation of the amplitude coefficient in ad- space coding of the −1st order harmonic is also determined, en-
dition to the phase coefficient modulation similar to QPSK. The abling independent control of time coding and space coding. For
t
set of constellation points represented by the parameter 𝛾D0 can PSK and QAM, the duty cycle D independently controls the signal
be expressed by amplitude with time, while the signal phases switch according to
the time delay t0 that varies over time. As the time coding of differ-
⎧ 0.625T0 0.7T 0.8T 0.875T0 ⎫ ent columns of the signal is switched simultaneously, according
⎪𝛾0.5 , 𝛾0.2680 , 𝛾0.2680 , 𝛾0.5 ,⎪
⎪ 0.55T0 to Equation (1), the phase gradient between different columns of
0.625T 0.875T 0.95T ⎪
⎪𝛾0.268 , 𝛾0.108 0 , 𝛾0.108 0 , 𝛾0.268 0 , ⎪ the STCM remains stable, ensuring a stable beam pointing. To
⎨ 0.45T0 (12)
0.375T 0.125T 0.05T ⎬ control the beam pointing, it is only necessary to adjust the ini-
⎪𝛾0.268 , 𝛾0.108 0 , 𝛾0.108 0 , 𝛾0.268 0 , ⎪
⎪ ⎪ tial space coding, and the time coding and space coding can be
⎪𝛾 0.375T0 , 0.3T
𝛾0.2680 ,
0.2T
𝛾0.2680 , 𝛾0.5 0 ⎪
0.125T controlled independently. The output digital signal is then ampli-
⎩ 0.5 ⎭ fied by a drive circuit and applied to the STCM, which reflects an
EM wave carrying digital information at the 1st order harmonic
For 16QAM, we perform normalization and phase correction
with a fixed beam direction. In this way, the STCM successfully
in a manner similar to QPSK. Afterward, we further establish
implements the synthesis of a communication transmitter and a
the mapping between data symbols, providing the foundation for
beam steering system.
utilizing STCM for information modulation as a transmitter (see
At the receiver side (Figure 5b), the received EM wave is pro-
Note S6, Supporting Information, for more details).
cessed by an RF module with a superheterodyne structure, where
To illustrate the application of our designed STCM in a com-
the down-conversion frequency is set to fc . The time-domain sig-
munication system and showcase its ability to achieve inde-
nal, obtained from the analog-to-digital converter sampling, is
pendent control in space and time, as well as the way to inte-
converted to a frequency-domain signal through a fast Fourier
grate the communication transmitter and the beam scanning
transform (FFT). For FSK, the amplitude at f1 = f0 and f2 = −f0
system, we have developed schematics as shown in Figure 5.
Figure 6. a) The experimental system established for sub-terahertz wireless communication. b) The spectrum data obtained from FSK modulation at
different frequency intervals. After updating the experiment equipment, the spectrum distribution at the frequency interval (c) f0 = 50 MHz and (d) f0 =
100 MHz.
are detected, if f1 is larger, the demapping is “0”, and if f2 is system, as illustrated in Figure 6a. We employed a microwave
larger, the demapping is “1”. For QPSK, QAM, and other modu- signal source (Keysight N5183B) connected to a frequency mul-
lation schemes, A and 𝜑 at “f0 ” are detected, and the bit stream tiplier as the excitation source, generating the desired carrier
is demapped according to the table in Note S6 (Supporting Infor- wave at a fixed frequency via a linear polarization horn. Drawing
mation). Finally, the host computer reconstructs the transmitted from experimental results from Section 3, the carrier frequency
file based on the obtained binary bit stream. was set at 88 GHz. A computer functioned as the transmitter
host, with an FPGA module (Xilinx Kintex-7) and a custom-
5. Experiments of the Sub-Terahertz Wireless built drive circuit module employed to load the required con-
Transmitter Based on STCM trol signals onto the STCM. Our system operates within the sub-
terahertz frequency range, significantly exceeding frequencies re-
In light of the provided description and the fabricated STCM, we ceivable by a universal software radio peripheral (USRP). As a
constructed a sub-terahertz wireless communication experiment result, the receiver side employs a superheterodyne architecture,
down-converting the received signals to the sub-6 GHz via the RF are portrayed in a complex in-phase/quadrature (I/Q) plane.
module. In this experiment, a microwave signal source (Agilent Figures 7 and 8 display the measured constellation diagrams
E8257D) connected to a frequency multiplier serves as the local for the QPSK and 16QAM communications at various frequency
oscillator (LO) with an operating frequency of 86 GHz. The USRP intervalsf0 . The data are normalized to the maximum amplitude
(USRP X310) is configured to demodulate the down-converted of all data in the diagram, and it is evident that the measured con-
signal with a center frequency of 2 GHz, facilitating sampling, stellation diagrams closely align with the standard constellation
and baseband operation. Finally, the recovered transmitted bit- diagram. As the frequency interval f0 increases, the measured
stream is recoded into the corresponding file (in this experi- amplitude value decreases while the phase is approximately ac-
ment, an image of the Southeast University logo). This experi- curate. Nevertheless, the Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) perfor-
ment demonstrates the efficacy of the communication system we mance experiences a certain degree of deterioration. This is be-
devised (see Note S7, Supporting Information, for more details). cause, when the frequency interval increases, the frequency of
Using the experiment system, we set the STCM’s space cod- the modulation signal generated by the FPGA and the drive cir-
ing to direct the beam at −35o and subsequently coupled the cuit also increases. As the frequency gradually rises, FPGA and
time coding. We successfully executed communications using the drive circuit, we employed, can no longer accurately control
the BFSK, QPSK, and 16QAM modulation schemes and mea- the duty cycle of the signal loaded onto the STCM. Additionally,
sured the spectrum (BFSK) and constellation diagram (QPSK, due to performance limitations, the USRP, we utilize, becomes
16QAM) at varying frequency intervals f0 . Test results from Sec- under-sampled, preventing us from modulation tests at higher
tion 3 indicate that communications can be achieved at different frequency intervals.
beam angles. Figure 6b displays the measured spectrum at dis- In the experiment, QPSK operates at the frequency interval
tinct frequency intervals. We observed that the amplitude differ- f0 = 6.25MHz, and 16QAM operates at the frequency interval f0
ence of the ±1st order harmonics in the spectrum of data sym- = 2.5MHz. Considering the data symbol duration T′ = T0 , their
bols “0” and “1” exceeds 15 dB at the majority of frequency in- communication rates can reach 12.5 and 10 Mbps, respectively.
tervals, indicating that our designed STCM transmitter is capa- As we mentioned in the section of FSK modulation communica-
ble of high-quality FSK communications. As the frequency inter- tion test, this is not the limit of the communication rate that the
val f0 increases, the harmonic components of other frequencies proposed STCM can attain, and higher communication rates be-
emerge due to the distortion of signal produced by the FPGA out- come available with the improvements and upgrades of the con-
put and drive circuit. Consequently, the amplitude of the antici- trol devices and experiment equipment.
pated 1st order harmonic component declines and the difference To evaluate the performance of the STCM-based sub-terahertz
between the ±1st order harmonics within the same data symbol wireless communications, we examined the bit error rate (BER)
diminishes. At a 10 MHz frequency interval, the amplitude dif- of the system under varying received signal powers, modula-
ference of the ±1st order harmonics in data symbol “0” is at least tion schemes, and communication rates, as depicted in Figure 9.
5.18 dB, surpassing 3 dB and still enabling effective FSK com- The results in Figure 9a indicate that, for a fixed communica-
munications. To ensure the corresponding harmonic frequency’s tion rate of 1 Mbps, the QPSK scheme shows a lower BER than
power magnitude and minimize the truncation effects, the data the FSK modulation scheme. This is attributable to its superior
symbol duration should be an integer multiple of the modulated noise resistance and spectral efficiency. However, the increased
signal period. In this case, we chose T′ = T0 , which can achieve symbol density in the 16QAM scheme makes it more prone to
a communication rate of 10 Mbps. noise-induced errors, channel impairments, and interference, re-
To reach higher communication rates, we can upgrade the sulting in a higher BER. Moreover, take the QPSK modulation
FPGA and drive circuit in the transmitter with two waveform scheme as an example, Figure 9b shows that for the same mod-
generators (RIGOL DG5352), which produce four types of time- ulation scheme, increasing the communication rate will lead to
delayed square wave signals at frequencies up to 100 MHz. an escalated BER. This arises from the heightened system vul-
Accordingly, the receiver requires a bandwidth of more than nerability to noise, amplified impact of interference and chan-
200 MHz and a sampling rate in hundreds of MS/s, which can- nel impairment, and increased inter-symbol interference. As the
not be supported by our existing USRP. Hence, we utilized a communication rate increases, the distortion of the square-wave
spectrum analyzer (Keysight N9040B) as the receiver. We per- modulation signal generated by the FPGA and the driving circuit
formed the spectrum measurements at frequency intervals of 50 results in a higher BER. Collectively, these factors contribute to an
and 100 MHz, as illustrated in Figure 6c,d. It is observed that at increased BER for the entire communication system. We wish to
the 100 MHz interval, the power intensity difference between the emphasize that the proposed STCM is not the primary obstacle to
+1st and −1st harmonics in the data symbol “0” reaches 7.75 dB, reduce the BER. In the future, we anticipate that through improv-
which evidences that a communication rate up to 100 Mbps is ing and upgrading the control device and experiment equipment,
definitely achievable while maintaining stable FSK communica- the BER can be further reduced.
tions. By upgrading the control devices of the transmitter, we no- As the frequency varies, the reflection amplitude and phase
tably enhance the system performance and conclude that the de- of the STCM unit may deviate from perfection. However, based
signed STCM can support higher communication rates, depend- on Equation (8), this deviation will primarily result in reducing
ing on the performance of the control module and the response the harmonic reflection efficiency, rather than affecting the rel-
rate of the varactor diodes. ative control relationship between the time delay and duty cycle
For QPSK and QAM, constellation diagrams are employed to of the square-wave control signal on the phase and amplitude
represent the relationship between their baseband signals, which of the reflected harmonic. Therefore, the proposed STCM and
Figure 7. The constellation diagrams of the QPSK modulation in communications obtained at different frequency intervals.
Figure 8. The constellation diagrams of the 16QAM modulation in the communications obtained at different frequency intervals.
modulation method exhibit robust controls of the reflected har- and EVM performance appears outside of the frequency range,
monics, we anticipate that the STCM can achieve communica- which can probably be ascribed to the bandwidth performance
tion functionality across a broader frequency band. We conducted of custom-made RF devices. Therefore, a wider operation band-
the experiment on the QPSK modulation scheme at a communi- width of the STCM-based sub-terahertz wireless communication
cation rate of 500 Kbps and found that the STCM can operate system can be expected. Furthermore, we remark that for our
effectively from 81.25 to 94.65 GHz. We selected four frequen- communication system, the dynamic power consumption of the
cies of 82, 85, 91, and 94 GHz to construct the normalized con- designed STCM array is ≈200 mW, which indicates the potential
stellation diagrams, as presented in Figure 10a–d. Maintaining application in green communications.
the transmission power, we observed that the BER obtained in
the experiment was below 10−7 over the entire frequency range. 6. Conclusion
The EVM is less than −25 dB at 88 GHz and deteriorates beyond
88 GHz, but it still preserves excellent performance. As demon- We have proposed an STCM designed for sub-terahertz opera-
strated in Figure 10e, the EVM is −17.08 dB at 81.25 GHz and tion. Leveraging our unique EM manipulation mechanism and
−14.81 dB at 94.65 GHz. Indeed, a sharp decline in both BER coding method, we successfully implemented various modu-
Figure 9. a) BER test results at 1 Mbps communication rate using FSK, QPSK, and 16QAM modulation schemes, respectively. b) BER test results of
QPSK at different communication rates.
Supporting Information
Supporting Information is available from the Wiley Online Library or from
the author.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development
Program of China (2018YFB1801505, 2017YFA0700201, 2017YFA0700202,
and 2017YFA0700203), National Natural Science Foundation of China
(62288101), 111 Project (111-2-05), and Fundamental Research Funds for
the Central Universities (2242023K5002).
Figure 10. The constellation diagram of QPSK modulation in communi-

Conflict of Interest
cation, obtained at the communication rate of 500 Kbps, obtained at oper- The authors declare no conflict of interest.
ating frequencies of a) 82, b) 85, c) 91, and d) 94 GHz, respectively. e) The
EVM experiment results of the QPSK constellation with a communication
rate of 500 Kbps.
Data Availability Statement
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the cor-
responding author upon reasonable request.
lation schemes, including FSK, PSK, and QAM, over a wide
bandwidth. Our communication system is capable of realizing
effective beam scanning for user tracking within ±45o . This Keywords
showcases the impressive information modulation and beam
steering capabilities of our designed STCM and EM manipu- metasurface, space-time coding, sub-terahertz, wireless communications
lation mechanism in the sub-terahertz frequencies, effectively
achieving the integration of information modulation and beam Received: July 4, 2023
steering. Compared with the conventional wireless communica- Revised: July 20, 2023
Published online: August 8, 2023
tion transmitter architectures applied to the sub-terahertz band,
our STCM transmitter provides an alternative with low com-
plexity, low cost, low power, and low heat dissipation. We believe
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Liu Et Al - 2023 - Toward Sub Terahertz

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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Toward Sub-Terahertz: Space-Time Coding Metasurface

{ Er (f ) = Γ(f − fc ) = Γ2 𝛿(f − fc ) + an e−jn𝜔0 t0 𝛿(f − fc − nf0 ) (7)

Figure 10. The constellation diagram of QPSK modulation in communi-

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