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Realizing Quantum Wireless Sensing Without Extra Reference Sources: Architecture, Algorithm, and Sensitivity Maximization

Mingyao Cui, Qunsong Zeng, Zhanwei Wang, Kaibin Huang

TL;DR

The paper addresses the bottlenecks of heterodyne-based quantum wireless sensing by proposing a self-heterodyne paradigm in which the transmitted signal serves as the reference, enabling an atomic autocorrelator operation and a wide-band sensing capability.A two-stage nonlinear least-squares algorithm is developed to perform high-precision range estimation, approaching the Cramér-Rao lower bound, and a novel $P$-trajectory design maximizes sensing sensitivity under both internal and external noise sources.The approach is validated numerically and experimentally, showing ~100 MHz bandwidth with high sensitivity and substantial improvements over classical sensing, and offering a scalable framework for future RARE-based ISAC applications and multi-target sensing.

Abstract

Rydberg Atomic REceivers (RAREs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities for radio-frequency signal measurement, enabling advanced quantum wireless sensing. Existing RARE-based sensing systems popularly adopt the heterodyne detection methodology, which requires an additional reference source to serve as an atomic mixer. However, this approach entails a bulky transceiver architecture and is limited in the supportable sensing bandwidth. To address these limitations, we propose a self-heterodyne sensing paradigm where the transmitter's self-interference naturally provides the reference signal. We demonstrate that a self-heterodyne RARE functions as an atomic autocorrelator, eliminating the need for external reference sources while supporting substantially wider bandwidth than conventional heterodyne methods. Next, a two-stage algorithm is devised to perform target ranging in self-heterodyne RARE systems. This algorithm is shown to closely approach the Cramer-Rao lower bound. Furthermore, we introduce the power-trajectory ($P$-trajectory) design for RAREs, which maximizes the sensing sensitivity through time-varying transmission power control. An internal noise (ITN)-limited $P$-trajectory is developed to capture the profile of the asymptotically optimal time-varying power in the presence of ITN only. This design is then extended to the practical $P$-trajectory by incorporating both the ITN and external noise. Numerical results validate that the proposed self-heterodyne sensing can achieve a $\sim$100 MHz-level bandwidth with high sensitivity, substantially surpassing existing heterodyne counterparts and paving the way for high-resolution quantum wireless sensing.

Realizing Quantum Wireless Sensing Without Extra Reference Sources: Architecture, Algorithm, and Sensitivity Maximization

TL;DR

The paper addresses the bottlenecks of heterodyne-based quantum wireless sensing by proposing a self-heterodyne paradigm in which the transmitted signal serves as the reference, enabling an atomic autocorrelator operation and a wide-band sensing capability.A two-stage nonlinear least-squares algorithm is developed to perform high-precision range estimation, approaching the Cramér-Rao lower bound, and a novel $P$-trajectory design maximizes sensing sensitivity under both internal and external noise sources.The approach is validated numerically and experimentally, showing ~100 MHz bandwidth with high sensitivity and substantial improvements over classical sensing, and offering a scalable framework for future RARE-based ISAC applications and multi-target sensing.

Abstract

Rydberg Atomic REceivers (RAREs) have demonstrated remarkable capabilities for radio-frequency signal measurement, enabling advanced quantum wireless sensing. Existing RARE-based sensing systems popularly adopt the heterodyne detection methodology, which requires an additional reference source to serve as an atomic mixer. However, this approach entails a bulky transceiver architecture and is limited in the supportable sensing bandwidth. To address these limitations, we propose a self-heterodyne sensing paradigm where the transmitter's self-interference naturally provides the reference signal. We demonstrate that a self-heterodyne RARE functions as an atomic autocorrelator, eliminating the need for external reference sources while supporting substantially wider bandwidth than conventional heterodyne methods. Next, a two-stage algorithm is devised to perform target ranging in self-heterodyne RARE systems. This algorithm is shown to closely approach the Cramer-Rao lower bound. Furthermore, we introduce the power-trajectory (-trajectory) design for RAREs, which maximizes the sensing sensitivity through time-varying transmission power control. An internal noise (ITN)-limited -trajectory is developed to capture the profile of the asymptotically optimal time-varying power in the presence of ITN only. This design is then extended to the practical -trajectory by incorporating both the ITN and external noise. Numerical results validate that the proposed self-heterodyne sensing can achieve a 100 MHz-level bandwidth with high sensitivity, substantially surpassing existing heterodyne counterparts and paving the way for high-resolution quantum wireless sensing.
Paper Structure (40 sections, 3 theorems, 74 equations, 11 figures, 1 table)

This paper contains 40 sections, 3 theorems, 74 equations, 11 figures, 1 table.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Review of Existing Wireless Sensing Paradigms
  3. Review of Classic Wireless Sensing
  4. Review of Quantum Wireless Sensing
  5. Electron transition model
  6. Heterodyne sensing
  7. Implementation Challenges of Heterodyne Sensing
  8. Bulky transceiver architecture
  9. Insufficient instantaneous bandwidth
  10. Self-Heterodyne Sensing: Architecture and Properties
  11. Architecture of Self-Heterodyne Sensing
  12. Transmitted signal
  13. Received sensing field
  14. Received reference field
  15. Overall incident RF field
  16. ...and 25 more sections

Key Result

Proposition 1

For large $\omega$, the CRLB of $\tau$ is asymptotically where $\bar{\varrho}_0 \overset{\Delta}{=} \int_0^T\varrho^2(t) {\rm d}t$, $\bar{\varrho}_1 \overset{\Delta}{=} \int_0^T\varrho^2(t) t {\rm d}t$, and $\bar{\varrho}_2 \overset{\Delta}{=} \int_0^T\varrho^2(t) t^2 {\rm d}t$.

Figures (11)

  • Figure 1: Classic wireless sensing system.
  • Figure 2: (a) Structure of a RARE; (b) the four-level quantum system; (c) the quantum heterodyne sensing system.
  • Figure 3: The proposed quantum self-heterodyne sensing system.
  • Figure 4: The evolution of the measured probe-laser power $y(t)$ in the absence of noise. Some key parameters are listed below: $\Omega_{\rm p} = 2\pi\times6\:{\rm MHz}$, $\Omega_{\rm c} = 2\pi\times 10\:{\rm MHz}$, $\Omega_{\rm r}(t) = 2\pi\times 2 \sqrt{1 + 5t/T}\:{\rm MHz}$, $\Omega_{\rm s}(t) = 2\pi\times 0.1\sqrt{1 + 5t/T} \:{\rm MHz}$, $B = 40\:{\rm MHz}$, $T = 100\:\mu{\rm s}$, and $\tau - \tau' = 0.75\:{\rm \mu s}$.
  • Figure 5: STFT of incident RF signals. The parameters are as follows: $T = 100{\mu s}$, $\tau' = 10{\rm n}s$, $\tau = 5{\rm \mu s}$, $B = 40 {\rm MHz}$, and $\omega_0 = \Omega_{\rm r} = 3.5{\rm GHz}$.
  • ...and 6 more figures

Theorems & Definitions (6)

  • Proposition 1
  • proof
  • Theorem 1
  • proof
  • Theorem 2
  • proof