Speaker: Prof. Kaibin Huang, Department Head, U.S. National Academy of Inventors Fellow, IEEE Fellow

Affiliation: Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong

Report Title: Rydberg Atomic Receiver: Next Frontier of Wireless Communications and Sensing

Abstract: 

The advancement of Rydberg atoms in quantum information technology is driving a paradigm shift from classical receivers to Rydberg atomic receivers (RARE). RAREs utilize the electron transition phenomenon of highly-excited atoms to interact with electromagnetic (EM) waves, thereby enabling the detection of wireless signals. Operating at the quantum scale, such new receivers have the potential to breakthrough the sensitivity limit of classical receivers, sparking a revolution in wireless communications and sensing. In this talk, I will first introduce the fundamentals of RAREs, covering their definition and properties, the interaction of Rydberg atoms with EM waves, as well as the electromagnetically-induced-transparency based quantum measurement. Then, the pros and cons of of RAREs compared as opposed to classical receivers will be discussed. The second part of this talk will present our latest progress in RARE aided multi-antenna communication and sensing, ranging from transmission model, signal detection, to channel capacity.  The talk will be concluded with some promising future directions on integration of RARE into modern wireless communication and radar systems.

Biography: 

Kaibin Huang received the B.Eng. and M.Eng. degrees from the National University of Singapore and the Ph.D. degree from The University of Texas at Austin, all in electrical engineering. He is the Philip K H Wong Wilson K L Wong Professor in Electrical Engineering and the Department Head at the Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), Hong Kong. His work was recognized with seven Best Paper awards from the IEEE Communication Society. He is a member of the Engineering Panel of Hong Kong Research Grants Council (RGC) and a RGC Research Fellow (2021 Class). He has served on the editorial boards of five major journals in the area of wireless communications and co-edited ten journal special issues. He has been active in organizing international conferences such as the 2014, 2017, and 2023 editions of IEEE Globecom, a flagship conference in communication. He has been named as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate in the last six years (2019-2024) and an AI 2000 Most Influential Scholar (Top 30 in Internet of Things) in 2023-2024. He was an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer. He is a Fellow of the IEEE and the U.S. National Academy of Inventors.