Toward Dynamically Adapting Wireless Intra-Chip Channels to Traffic Needs with a Programmable Metasurface

We introduce the idea of endowing on-chip wireless propagation environments with in-situ programmability by equipping the chip package with a programmable metasurface. The limitations of current wired chip interconnect fabrics present a serious performance bottleneck for multi-core chips. Wireless links between far-apart cores are a promising complementary link technique but struggle with the complex on-chip propagation environment presenting strong multipath effects. We expect that these challenges can be addressed with the ability to shape wireless channels between far-apart cores and to dynamically adapt them to traffic needs; for instance, by tailoring the impulse response between two wireless nodes, it may be feasible to prevent inter-symbol interference. Here, we present our recent progress toward this goal, including an analysis of the on-chip propagation environment, an efficient design of programmable meta-atoms suitable for the on-chip environment and operating in the 60 GHz regime, and a detailed discussion of different single-channel and multi-channel use-case scenarios.