Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk › Scientific
by Idelfonso Tafur Monroy, Professor Terahertz Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology The talk introduces the growing neeed and importance of photonic integrated circuits to support Terahertz wireless communications and sensing for autonomous vehicles. It has been estimated by people like Dr. Joy Laskar, co-founder and CTO of Maja Systems, that the self-driving car will generate approximately two petabits of data per week – the equivalent of two-million gigabits. To put this in perspective, even with an advanced 4G connection, it will take 200 days to transfer a week’s-worth of data from a single self-driving car. That explains why we need much faster data processing technology and products. Next generation chips and large 5G wireless connectivity will turn cars into “data centers on wheels”, thus enabling self-driving cars to make in-situ, complex, real time decisions. For a massive roll-out of autonomous cars that will be driven by artificial intelligence as well as being securely connected to the mobile network, not even 5G speeds will be enough. There will need to be lots of smaller mmWave and THz antennas located close to each other. Terahertz wireless communications with terabit capacities go beyond supporting autonomous driving cars. It will transform the infrastructure needed to become a network of not only cars, drones, robots co-operating with each other but also interacting with (vulnerable) road users and even sensing the surroundings for environmental protection and safety. The talk presents a vision and insights on how integrated photonics can play a role int his development.