太赫兹星间链路：动机、挑战与机遇

中文摘要 AI 辅助

星间链路（ISLs）对于下一代卫星星座的演进至关重要，为低延迟、高韧性和全球可扩展的连接提供了基础。虽然基于低频射频（RF）的星间链路具有技术成熟度高的优势，但它们日益受到频谱稀缺、拥塞和干扰的制约。另一方面，光星间链路提供了前所未有的容量，但要求超高精度的指向，受限于窄波束，并且仅限于点对点链路，所有这些都阻碍了大规模部署，包括点对多点能力。为克服这些限制，我们提出甚高频射频太赫兹（THz）星间链路（ISLs）作为一种有前景的中间解决方案，融合了光链路的超高数据速率与低频射频星间链路的适应性、可靠性及宽松的指向要求。然而，尽管兴趣日益增长，太赫兹星间链路的研究仍处于早期阶段，分散在孤立的研究中，且缺乏实现实际应用的清晰路线图。本文旨在通过审视太赫兹星间链路的基本原理、评估其潜在优势和关键挑战，并确定最有前景的研究方向，以将其转变为未来互联巨型星座的基石，来填补这一空白。

英文摘要

Inter-satellite links (ISLs) are essential to the evolution of next-generation satellite constellations, providing the foundation for low-latency, resilient, and globally scalable connectivity. While low radio-frequency (RF)-based ISLs offer technological maturity, they are increasingly constrained by spectrum scarcity, congestion, and interference. Optical ISLs, on the other hand, deliver unprecedented capacity but demand ultra-precise pointing, suffer from narrow-beam limitations, and are limited to point-to-point links, all of which hinder large-scale deployment, including point-to-multi-point capability. To overcome these limitations, we propose very-high RF terahertz (THz) inter-satellite links (ISLs) as a promising middle-ground solution, merging the ultra-high data rates of optical links with the adaptability, reliability, and relaxed pointing requirements of lower-frequency RF ISLs. However, despite growing interest, research on THz ISLs remains at an early stage, fragmented across isolated studies, and lacking a clear roadmap for practical realization. This paper aims to address this gap by examining the fundamentals of THz ISLs, assessing their potential advantages and key challenges, and identifying the most promising research directions to transform them into a cornerstone of future interconnected mega constellations.

发表机构

• University of Luxembourg（卢森堡大学）
• National Institute of Technology Warangal（瓦朗加尔国家技术学院）

机构由 AI 辅助整理，请以论文原文为准。