Asymmetric Sub-Carrier Numerology for Sub-THz

Technical Explanation

In sub-THz bands, downlink transmitters operate at high power and can easily support ultra-wide sub-carrier spacings (e.g. 960 kHz or 1920 kHz) to overcome oscillator phase noise and deliver terabit throughput. However, mobile smartphone batteries cannot generate sufficient peak power for such wide sub-carriers on the uplink. Asymmetric Numerology uses wide spacing on the downlink while switching to narrower, power-efficient single-carrier waveforms (like DFT-s-OFDM) on the uplink.

Key Functions

• Applies ultra-wide sub-carrier spacing on downlink to suppress sub-THz phase noise
• Switches to narrow power-efficient single-carrier waveforms on mobile handset uplink
• Optimizes smartphone battery life while preserving terabit download capacity
• Balances link budget disparities between high-power towers and handheld phones