Developing Worldwide High-Speed Internet Access via Satellite
A group of COE faculty led by ECE Professor and Interim Chair Josep Jornet is partnering with student group Project Horizon and Morehead State University to develop what could be the world’s first sub-THz wireless satellite network testbed. Their research could result in high-speed internet reaching people across the globe, including in highly remote locations.
This article originally appeared on Northeastern Global News. It was published by Cesaero Contreras. Main photo: Northeastern professor Josep Jornet is leading project to send a sub-THz radio system into space. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
Northeastern researchers partner with student club to develop high-speed satellite testbed that could transform internet communications
The next big breakthrough in internet communications may very well be found in the stars, and Northeastern University is helping lead the charge.
A group of Northeastern engineering professors has partnered with student satellite club Project Horizon to develop and test what could become the world’s first sub-THz wireless satellite network testbed.
If successful, the teams say their findings could one day enable the use of satellites to help provide high-speed internet access to remote parts of the world and help keep people connected during environmental disasters.
“Those satellites will not just be serving a country, including the rural areas or the underpopulated areas, but they will effectively be covering anywhere in the world,” says Josep Jornet, a Northeastern professor of electrical and computer engineering and the principal investigator on the project.
Others working on the project include electrical and computer engineering professors Tommaso Melodia and Ken Duffy, as well as Andrew Gouldstone, a professor of mechanical and industrial engineering. They are also working in collaboration with Morehead State University on the project.
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Josep Jornet has been studying terahertz technology for more than a decade. Photos by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University
For more than a decade, Jornet has been studying terahertz bands (THz), a form of wireless frequency technology that has promising applications for the internet, given the bands’ ability to enable ultra high data speeds. They are seen as evolutionary in enabling carriers to move from 5G networks to 6G networks in the years to come.
Terahertz technologies offer significantly faster data speeds than what you might find in your cellphone or laptop today, for example, which operate at lower gigahertz frequencies, Jornet explains.
Jornet and his colleagues want to bring those kinds of speeds to space to make satellite communications significantly faster.
Today, smartphones made by Apple and Google do offer some satellite connectivity, allowing users to send SOS messages when they are in areas with little service. Satellite internet services such as StarLink also exist, but the room for growth is significant, Jornet explains.
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