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Phase-independent wireless data aggregation via optical in-sensor computing

delete2026-07-27
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OA
AI
S
Siqin Sun
Z
Zexi Lu
Y
Yao Wang
Z
Zihui Liu
Z
Zhuang Mao
F
Fengzhi Wang
W
Wenyan Wang
蒋建中 cover
蒋建中 (Jie Jiang)
B
Bin Lu
何海平 (Haiping He)
X
Xinhua Pan *
H
Haoliang Qian *
Z
Zhizhen Ye *
DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-75857-1delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
The data-intensive nature of the Internet of Things (IoT) significantly challenges conventional communication systems. While over-the-air computation integrates communication and computation to reduce data aggregation burdens, it requires strict synchronization of transmitted signals, increasing system overhead. Here, we report an optical in-sensor wireless data aggregation paradigm that exploits photocarrier trapping in defect-dominated persistent photoconductance sensors to reduce dependence on synchronization constraints. Within a single communication window, the system reliably aggregates incoherent optical signals with relative timing offsets exceeding the signal duration by up to 120%, while achieving computation errors below 1.5% normalized mean squared error. This process achieves unbiased integration with pulsed low-frequency readout, indicating its potential for ultra-low power operation. A distributed temperature prediction model based on this paradigm shows faster convergence and competitive accuracy with a simplified architecture, demonstrating effectiveness in distributed edge sensing scenarios. This work provides a promising hardware implementation for low-power data aggregation in large-scale IoT edge networks. Massive connectivity between intelligent devices impose significant challenges on communication systems. Sun et al. report a persistent photoconductance sensor that integrates communication and computation through in-sensor aggregation of incoherent optical signals, enabling energy-efficient wireless data aggregation.

Journal

Nature Communications cover
Nature Communications
IF:
15.7
Papers:
9.2W
Citations:
91.2W

Organization

Z
zhejiang university
Scholars:
17.4W
Papers: 12.0W
Citations: 152