Simultaneous Terahertz Imaging With Information and Power Transfer (STIIPT)

Terahertz (THz) band transmission has the potential to revolutionize future-generation wireless networks by jointly meeting communication and non-communication demands of their connected devices. Recent advances in THz semiconductor technologies and antenna design are closing the THz band gap in millimeter-scale devices which are often battery-limited. The localization of these mobile devices in future wireless networks is of paramount significance for beamforming to overcome THz propagation loss. Consequently, prospective signal processing techniques with co-design architectures are emerging either for joint communication and sensing or for simultaneous information and power transfer. In this article, we present a novel approach toward Simultaneous Terahertz Imaging with Information and Power Transfer (STIIPT) from a base station transceiver to an Integrated Receiver (IntRx). Leveraging the proposed non-linear rectenna model for energy harvesting, a customized On-Off Keying (cOOK) modulation scheme is proposed for simultaneous communication through a non-linear THz channel while generating a radar-like image to localize the IntRx acting as a target. The proposed theoretical models are corroborated with simulations using a THz band GaAs Schottky diode to demonstrate STIIPT performances which also emphasize the significance of ranging information to optimize rate-energy transfer tradeoff under the cOOK modulation scheme.