Photonic Technologies and Systems Enabling 6G

Dear Colleagues,

The next 6G mobile generation will make extensive use of photonic technologies, both in the traditional application domains of these technologies, such as optical transport networks and data center interconnects, and in the opening of new application domains, such as photonic generation and processing of radio signals. In the optical transport network, 6G will push the need for high capacity and ultra-low latency further, also introducing new requirements, such as the tight synchronization of radio units in distributed MIMO scenarios. With the increase in the geographical density of antennas and their reduction in weight and size, guaranteeing high energy efficiency becomes important. Co-packaged optics (CPO) transceivers can guarantee several terabits of capacity with an energy efficiency of a few joules/bit. Radio over fiber (RFO) and power over fiber (POF) can make radio terminals smaller and less power consuming. Especially when extending the radio spectrum to millimeter-wave or Terahertz, photonics can greatly help in the generation and processing of radio signals with low phase noise, as well as in the implementation of low-loss distribution circuits for radio frequency or timing reference signals or the distribution of antenna signals for optical beamforming. Finally, 6G is expected to use a wider variety of technologies compared to previous mobile generations. Examples are free space optics (FSO), including satellite communications, and photonics-based sensors such as Lidars.

In this Special Issue, we invite submissions exploring the development of photonic technology and systems enabling the next 6G mobile generation. Contributions can focus on systems and devices for radio frequency generation and distribution, optical beamforming, co-packaged optics, radio over fiber, power over fiber, lidars, free space optics, satellite optical communications, and high-speed low-latency fronthaul networks. Survey papers and reviews are also welcomed.

Dr. Fabio Cavaliere
Prof. Dr. Luca Potì
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• co-packaged optical transceivers
• optical beamforming
• optics for mm-Wave and THz generation and detection
• free space optics
• radio over fiber
• power over fiber
• high-speed fronthaul
• satellite optical communications
• lidars
• microwave photonics

• New Trends in Optical Networks in Applied Sciences (17 articles)