ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the communication requirements and implementation constraints of the controller network within the metasurface. Tunable metasurfaces are ultra-thin, artificial electromagnetic (EM) components that provide engineered and adjustable functionalities up to the terahertz (THz) band and beyond. The controller network lies at the heart of an software-defined metamaterial (SDM) and poses significant implementation and cointegration challenges. SDMs are planar, rectangular structures that can transform impinging EM waves in a controlled manner. Early SDM designs considered a grid topology of cells with rectangular wired connectivity. The communication network within an SDM needs to be designed while accounting for a series of physical limitations. When scaling the SDM paradigm toward THz operation, however, conventional network-on-chip may encounter issues in the form of complex layouts or poor performance in very dense networks.
