Josep M Jornet

Research Overview

Terahertz communications for 6G systems, wireless nano-bio-communication networks, Internet of Nano-Things

Dr. Jornet is the founding director the Ultrabroadband Nanonetworking Laboratory (UN Lab), a vibrant, diverse, and inter-disciplinary laboratory currently with 10 Ph.D. students (plus 5 alumni), 3 M.S. students (plus 14 alumni), and 5 undergraduate students (plus 13 alumni), a third of which is composed of students from underrepresented groups in STEM. The UN Lab addresses wireless communication challenges that are of national and societal relevance, such as solving the spectrum scarcity problem by developing new wireless technologies for terahertz communications (from graphene-based nano-transceivers and nano-antennas to ultra-broadband signal processing and communication algorithms); or facilitating transformative healthcare systems (from cancer monitoring plasmonic implants to brain-machine interfaces for neural function restoration) by laying the foundations of wearable and intra-body nano-bio communication networks at optical frequencies. The UN Lab has expertise in nano-device design, modeling and analysis; signal propagation modeling and experimental characterization; and communication and networking protocol design, performance analysis, implementation, and experimental testing. For a list and more details of the current active projects in the lab, please check here.

Broader Impacts

Under the premise that “anything is possible as long as it does not break the laws of physics”, the UN Lab works hard towards bridging the gap between science, engineering, and society. In this direction, Dr. Jornet is at the forefront and actively involved in many activities aimed at both policy and regulation of the spectrum above 100 GHz as well as the standardization of solutions that can ensure equitable access to such resources.

In particular, aimed at transitioning terahertz communications research from theory to practice, with the support of the US National Science Foundation and the US Air Force Research Laboratory, Dr. Jornet was able to obtain first-of-a-kind US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licenses, including the first license to operate a wireless communication system above 1 THz (File numbers 0143-EX-ST-2018 and 0516-EX-CN-2018) and, more importantly, the first license ever to allow a long-range wireless communication system (multiple kilometers) to operate over the 220-260 GHz, a frequency range which includes to protected frequency bands reserved to satellite-based passive scientific users of the spectrum (File number 0753-EX-ST-2018). This required the dynamic operation of the link according to the presence of the satellite of interest in the area of influence. Effectively, this demonstrated that different ways of sharing the spectrum beyond exclusive access are possible, which can, in fact, benefit all the users of the spectrum. For example, larger contiguous bandwidths, uninterrupted by the presence of forbidden bands, can enable ultra-high capacity wireless backhauls to provide ultra-broadband Internet access to rural areas and bridge the digital divide in the nation. At the same time, having more resources for atmospheric sensing (including radar and spectroscopy) applications, can facilitate the data collection and expedite the studies and solutions to climate change. The experiences and lessons learned from the studies conducted by Dr. Jornet were contributed as inputs and captured in the final version of the US FCC Docket 19-19 Spectrum Horizons, which introduces new mechanisms to obtain FCC licenses for experimental THz systems above 100 GHz, allocates more than 20 GHz of unlicensed spectrum for the same and, ultimately, positions the US at the forefront of spectrum policy. Other more recent contributions to the FCC include new recommended practices to ensure the protection of the scientific users of the spectrum while achieving a more cost-effective use of the 24 GHz 5G band. This has resonated very well with key spectrum players, such as AT&T.

The FCC is, however, only the first stop, because to have a worldwide impact, such spectrum recommendations need to be captured by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). In 2020, led by Dr. Jornet, Northeastern University joined and became one of the only ten US-based academic members of the ITU. As a full member of the ITU, NU can submit contributions not only through specific working groups but also directly to the US Department of State. For example, in the last two years, Dr. Jornet has led contributions to US Working Party (WP) 1A – Spectrum Engineering – and US WP 7C – Remote Sensing Systems on the timely topic of spectrum coexistence above 100 GHz, which were approved by the US Department of State and discussed at the global ITU meeting in Geneva in Fall 2020. As an ITU Member, the group can influence the direction of ITU’s work, which eventually can translate into related work within the United Nations system and, thus, worldwide outreach across the 193 ITU Member States.

More recently, Dr. Jornet has also been contributing to the vision of the creation of a National Radio Dynamic Zone (NRDZ), or the playground where the future of the spectrum usage can be experimentally tested while minimizing interference to existing systems. The focus of Dr. Jornet’s supplement is to specifically focus on the techniques needed to ensure coexistence and protection of the spectrum users above 100 GHz. Closely related to this, Dr. Jornet led the high-frequency aspects of Northeastern’s university application and recent approval to become an FCC Spectrum Innovation Zone. He is also the university liaison and contributor for the mmWave Coalition, an industry group aimed at removing the regulatory barriers to technologies and using frequencies between 95 GHz and 450 GHz, and a member of the Working Groups on Spectrum, Technology, and National Roadmap for 6G in the NextG Alliance, a coalition aimed at building the foundation for North American leadership in the 6G and beyond.

Besides policy, Dr. Jornet has been consistently contributing to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15 Terahertz Interest Group. Dr. Jornet’s first contribution to the group was in 2010 when he was a junior Ph.D. student. Since that day, he has been regularly participating in the meetings and presenting the outcomes of the group (including the first standard for THz communications approved in 2017) to a larger audience, which are many times not familiar with neither the existence nor the impact of such activities.

It is also the goal of Dr. Jornet to ensure that more people are exposed to all these organizations, procedures, and facts, starting from students. To achieve this, Dr. Jornet promotes Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) by leveraging multiple vehicles developed at Northeastern. The UN Lab contributes to the university Young Scholar’s Program by hosting two high-school students in the lab over the summer every year, offering them a unique opportunity for a hands-on research experience. In addition, Dr. Jornet is a regular speaker in the Pathways to STEM program, after school program geared towards high school students with interests in STEM. In both cases, the goal is to show the excitement, diversity, and opportunities for real impact in the broad field of STEM. Once on campus, the UN Lab is also the mentor and research advisor for the Undergraduate Program for Leaders in Future Transformation (UPLIFT), as part of which promising first-year undergraduate students are given the opportunity to work in a research laboratory and being exposed to state of the art research. All these add to a very diverse group of master and Ph.D. students working on diverse aspects ranging from nanomaterials to spectrum policy, regulation, and standardization.

Last but not least, all the lessons learned through the years are now part of a semester-long graduate inter-disciplinary course on terahertz communications for 6G networks, offered every year at Northeastern. In addition, aimed at disseminating this knowledge and promoting workforce development in areas which are of critical national interest, Dr. Jornet has given this course in different forms to other institutions (not only academic but also companies and national research labs) and in conferences, through keynote speeches (6 in the last two years out of a total of 10); tutorials and short courses (7 in the last two years, out of a total of 14); panel discussions (11 in the last two years out of 18 total); and seminars and webinars (20 in the last 2 years, out of a total of 52).