Distributed Deployment and Dual-Frequency Concepts to Strengthen Sub-THz Wireless Systems

The vast bandwidth available at sub-THz frequencies holds great promise for high-speed wireless access, precise localization, and advanced sensing applications. However, fundamental physical constraints and technological limitations make the deployment of reliable sub-THz networks challenging. We propose a new paradigm for sub-THz coverage by transmitting the RF signals over polymer microwave fibers (PMFs) that interconnect low-complexity radio units (RUs) in a daisy-chain configuration. The distributed architecture ensures that user equipments (UEs) connect to RUs in their proximity, reducing path loss and mitigating blocking. The RUs leverage low-complexity, compact integrated antenna modules. Additionally, dual-frequency <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">tandem operation</i> is proposed, integrating the sub-THz system with a sub-10 GHz system that provides control signalling and a robust fallback solution for the sub- THz system. This proposed tandem architecture can open up the full potential of sub-THz technology and paves the way to cost- and energy-efficient, high-performance, real-time connectivity in dynamic environments.