MilliLink

  • Funding:

    German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

  • Project partner: Fraunhofer IAF, Siemens AG, Kathrein KG, Radiometer Physics GmbH
  • Start:

    April 2010

  • End:

    May 2013

  • Contact:

    Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Zwick

Millimeter Wave Wireless Links in Optical Communication Networks (MilliLink)

The goal of project »MilliLink«, funded with a total of two million Euro by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) within the priority program »broadband access for next generation networks«, is the seamless integration of wireless radio links into broadband optical communication networks, with the aim of providing high-speed internet access especially to rural areas. Other possible applications are indoor Wireless Local Area Networks (WLAN), Wireless Personal Area Networks (WPAN), and intra-machine and board-to-board communication links. Upon completion of the project, up to this time worldwide unique measurement results for such wireless links could be achieved within the framework of joint measurement campaigns with contributions by all project partners. These were made available to the public in the press releases provided below.

Setup for the world record of wireless data transmission at 100 gigabits per second: The receiver unit (left) receives the radio signal that is recorded by the oscilloscope (right). (Photo: KIT, 2013)
A distance of over one kilometer has already been covered by using a long range demonstrator between two skyscrapers in Karlsruhe. (Photo: Ulrich Lewark/KIT, 2013)

Selected Publications


20 GBit/s Wireless Bridge at 220 GHz Connecting Two Fiber-Optic Links
Koenig, S.; Antes, J.; Lopez-Diaz, D.; Schmogrow, R.; Zwick, T.; Koos, C.; Freude, W.; Leuthold, J.; Kallfass, I.
2014. Journal of Optical Communications and Networking, 6 (1), 54–61. doi:10.1364/JOCN.6.000054
High-Speed Wireless Bridge at 220 GHz Connecting Two Fiber-Optic Links Each Spanning up to 20 km
Koenig, S.; Antes, J.; Lopez-Diaz, D.; Kallfass, I.; Zwick, T.; Koos, C.; Freude, W.; Leuthold, J.
2012. OSA Technical Digest: Optical Fiber Communication Conference, Los Angeles, California, March 4-8, 2012, paper OM2B.1, Optica Publishing Group (OSA). doi:10.1364/OFC.2012.OM2B.1
Systemkonzept und Realisierung einer Millimeterwellenfunkstrecke mit Datenraten über 12,5 Gbit/s
Antes, J.; Lopez-Diaz, D.; Schlechtweg, M.; Diebold, D.; Gulan, H.; Poprawa, F.; Kurz, F.; Henneberger, R.; Roppelt, E.; König, S.; Leuthold, J.; Schneider, T.; Zwick, T.; Ambacher, O.; Kallfass, I.
2011. Mobilkommunikation 2011 - Technologien und Anwendungen - 16. ITG-Fachtagung, Osnabrück, Deutschland, 18.-19.5.2011, Osnabrück