Compute-and-transmit photonic convolution using a microcomb-driven 300 GHz wireless link

We demonstrate a comb-based photonic processor that performs temporal convolution in the optical domain and directly converts the analog computation result into a 300 GHz wireless signal. A dissipative Kerr soliton microcomb with a 300-GHz free spectral range provides parallel wavelength channels, in which convolution kernels are encoded as comb-line weights and processed via dispersion-induced delays. The convolution output is optically heterodyned in a uni-traveling-carrier photodiode, generating a 300 GHz carrier whose amplitude envelope represents the convolution result. We experimentally demonstrate real-time optical convolution at 1.2 Gbaud and a successful free-space THz link of the processed signal in the terahertz band. Offloading the convolution to the optical domain reduces the estimated computational cost by 23.1% relative to a purely electronic implementation. A latency estimate further suggests that direct optical-to-terahertz transmission can alleviate the I/O overhead by avoiding local digitization and bus-based data transfer.