6G • Spectrum
Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) Multiplexing
Helical Wavefront Vortex Mode Spatial Multiplexing for 6G
Transmission of electromagnetic waves with twisting, helical wavefronts carrying distinct topological charges to multiply wireless capacity.
Technical Explanation
Electromagnetic waves carry both linear momentum and angular momentum. Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) twists the radio wave phase front into a corkscrew helical vortex. Waves with different topological twist charges (e.g. l = -2, -1, 0, +1, +2) are mutually orthogonal over the same frequency channel. In 6G line-of-sight point-to-point backhaul and satellite links, OAM multiplexing transmits multiple independent terabit streams concurrently without consuming extra bandwidth.
Key Functions
- Twists radio wave phase fronts into orthogonal helical spatial vortex modes
- Multiplexes multiple independent data streams over the identical frequency carrier
- Provides extreme multi-terabit capacity for line-of-sight wireless backhaul
- Operates without complex multi-user digital pre-coding matrix inversions
Specifications
IEEE Trans. Antennas and Propagation OAM Special Issue, ITU-R M.2160
Interfaces
Helical Phase Plate AntennaUniform Circular Array (UCA)
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