FASTER: Full-StAck Software-Defined Ultrabroadband Terahertz Radio Testbed for Tactical Wireless Research Beyond 5G

While fifth-generation (5G) cellular networks and current iterations of IEEE 802.11 designs (ad/ay) deployments have been focusing on the lower millimeter wave (mmWave) band (i.e., below 71 GHz), the spectrum above 100 GHz is largely unexplored. These frequencies enable access to unprecedented, contiguous bandwidth for ultrabroadband communication and networking systems. Additionally, they redefine wireless sensing as known today because of electromagnetic radiations interacting at the molecular level with the environment. However, as of today, no programmable and real-time testbeds are available for wireless experimentation above 100 GHz. Platforms operating above 100 GHz offer large bandwidth, but cannot process it in real-time, preventing the development of full-stack and adaptive solutions.

This project proposes to develop the fastest, real-time, and fully programmable software-defined radio (SDR) platform for experimental wireless research worldwide. It features four programmable nodes, each equipped with a 10 GHz baseband processing platform, RF transmit and receive chains and directional antennas in the 120–140 GHz band. Each node is fully programmable, allowing the user to control—among others—the bandwidth and modulation and coding schemes. The nodes are not commercially available as customer-off-the-shelf solutions, but will be assembled extending a design we already successfully prototyped and tested. This testbed significantly expands the development and testing capabilities of US-based researchers, enabling the development of innovative solutions that make the most out of the spectrum above 100 GHz for sensing, communications, and networking.