Cryogenic Cooling in Wireless Communications

Abstract

Improving the capacity and performance of communication systems is typically achieved by either using more bandwidth or enhancing the effective signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). Both approaches have led to the invention of various transmission techniques, such as forward error correction (FEC), multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO), non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA), and many, many others. This paper, however, focuses on the idea that should be immediately apparent when looking at Shannon’s channel capacity formula, but that somehow remained less explored for decades, despite its (unfortunately only in theory) limitless potential. We investigate the idea of improving the performance of communication systems by means of cryogenic cooling of their RF front-ends; the technique, although widely-known and used in radio astronomy for weak signal detection, has attracted limited interest when applied to wireless communications. The obtained results, though mainly theoretical, are promising and lead to a substantial channel capacity increase, implying an increase in spectral efficiency, potential range extension, or decreasing the power emitted by mobile stations. We see its applications in base stations (BSs) of machine-type communication (MTC) and Internet of Things (IoT) systems.

Keywords

• wireless communications
• channel capacity
• Shannon limit
• cryogenics
• thermal noise