José Luis González Jiménez, a research engineer at CEA-Leti since 2011, has been honored at European Microwave Week (EuMW) for his work on a 58 Gb/s D-band non-line-of-sight (NLOS) link enabled by an active reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS). The recognition highlights a key advance toward ultra-fast, low-latency 6G wireless communications for complex industrial environments.

González Jiménez brings over fifteen years of integrated circuit design experience to CEA-Leti, having joined after a PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia focused on signal integrity. His current research concentrates on millimeter-wave and sub-terahertz frequencies, primarily in the D-band around 150 GHz. The award-winning paper, “A 58 Gb/s D-band NLOS link enabled by active RIS,” grew out of the European projects COREnext and TERRAMETA, the France 2030 PEPR “Future Networks” program, and an industrial collaboration with Intel.

The work targets the needs of smart factories under the TERRAMETA project, launched in 2023, where robots and humans coexist and rapid decision-making demands processing and communication times below one millisecond. Experiments with Dell revealed the inadequacy of conventional Wi‑Fi, leading to a system that combines multi‑channel radio links, a base station from Intracom Telecom, and active metasurfaces. These electronically controlled, reconfigurable mirrors can dynamically adjust their reflection angle to bypass obstacles and optimize signal propagation. Crucially, the developed metasurfaces do not merely reflect—they actively amplify the signal, significantly extending range. Measurements in CEA-Leti’s anechoic chamber confirmed the system’s performance, followed by integrated demonstrations linking the radio system, intelligent surface, and processing server.

The practical outcome is a path to intelligent communication networks that adapt autonomously to dynamic conditions, enabling distributed physical AI systems with ultra‑high bandwidth and sub‑millisecond latency. The technology directly supports next‑generation smart factories where massive data exchange at the management level is critical. The achievement exemplifies CEA-Leti’s drive to transform cutting‑edge research into deployable communication solutions.

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​​​A research engineer at CEA-Leti since 2011, José Luis González Jiménez develops innovative 6G technologies based on silicon integrated circuits and systems, sub-terahertz waves and reconfigurable intelligent surfaces. Recognized at theEuropean Microwave Week (EuMW), his work paves the way for ultra-fast, low-latency wireless communications capable of operating in complex industrial environments.​

For more than fifteen years, José Luis González Jiménez has been working at CEA-Leti on the design of integrated circuits for radio communications, particularly in the field of radio frequency (RF) technologies. His career began with studies in telecommunications, specializing in electronic circuits. He joined CEA-Leti in 2011 after completing a PhD at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, where he focused on signal integrity challenges in complex electronic systems.

Today, his research focuses on very high-frequency communications, particularly millimeter-wave and sub-terahertz technologies, mainly in the D-band (around 150 GHz). These technologies are now at the heart of the challenges associated with ultra-high-speed wireless communications.

The work presented in the paper "A 58 Gb/s D-band NLOS link enabled by active RIS" builds on the European projects COREnext¹, TERRAMETA², and the “France 2030 PEPR" Future Networks³ French national program. It also represents a significant continuation of an industrial collaboration with Intel. The objective is to develop 6G technologies based on CMOS radio architectures and terahertz intelligent surfaces for ultra-high-speed wireless communications.

The award received at the European Microwave Week represents an important recognition for José Luis:

Launched in 2023, the TERRAMETA project aims to address the needs of smart factories, where robots and humans operate side by side. How can their behavior be predicted to help prevent accidents?

Processing and communication times must remain below one millisecond to enable the central system to make rapid decisions.

Experiments conducted with Dell highlighted the limitations of conventional wireless technologies such as Wi-Fi. The solution developed by José Luis relies on multi-channel radio links combined with a base station provided by Intracom Telecom. It also integrates intelligent metasurfaces capable of reflecting and redirecting signals according to the surrounding environment.

These surfaces act as electronically controlled reconfigurable mirrors, allowing the reflection angle to be adjusted dynamically to bypass obstacles and optimize signal propagation in complex, constantly changing environments.

One of the project's major achievements is the demonstration of active metasurfaces that not only reflect electromagnetic waves but also amplify the signal, significantly extending communication range. Initial testing was carried out at CEA-Leti, including measurements in an anechoic chamber, before integrated demonstrations combining the radio system, intelligent surface, and processing server.

José Luis's work opens the door to intelligent, reconfigurable communication networks designed for highly dynamic environments and to deploy physical IA systems with distributed computing capabilities. These systems could automatically adapt to changing conditions, external constraints, and unexpected situations.

Intelligent metasurfaces could significantly improve the performance of the next generation of smart factories, where the enormous volume of data to be exchanged at the factory management level requires both extremely high communication bandwidth and ultra-low latency.

Through this research, José Luis perfectly illustrates CEA-Leti's ambition: transforming cutting-edge technological advances into practical solutions for the communication systems of tomorrow.​

² Funded by theEU Horizon Europe Framework Programme(TERRAMETA)³ Funded by theFrance 2030 Future Networksprogram​

Acknowledgments:A. Siligaris, A. Hamani, A. Clemente, F.Foglia Manzillo, C. Dehos, J.-B.

Doré, N. Cassiau, Benjamin Blampey, Renaud Mourot

For more information about the paper:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/397774318_A_58_textGbmathrms_D-Band_NLOS_Link_Enabled_by_Active_RIS

For more information about the conference:https://www.eumw.eu/

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