6G is shaping up to be one of the largest jumps in network bandwidth in mobile service providers’ history. Interesting Engineering reports that researchers have successfully created a 6G network that achieved a 938 Gbps transmission data rate.
For perspective, 938 Gbps is almost 5000 times faster than a good to excellent 5G connection on your typical 5G smartphone, which can operate at roughly 200 Mbps. It’s even faster when you consider real-world 5G connections that don’t have the best signal, which will generally provide well below 100 Mbps.
This impressive feat was accomplished by Zhixin Liu and his team at University College London (UCL). The team purportedly used a combination of radio waves and light-based communication across the broadest spectrum of frequencies ever recorded, ranging from 5 GHz to 150 GHz.
The researchers used a 145 GHz bandwidth wireless transmission using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) for the test. This setup takes advantage of different transmission operations for various frequency ranges. The high-frequency mm-wave bands, including the 75 – 150 GHz bands, were generated by “mixing optically modulated signals with frequency-locked lasers on high-speed photodiodes.”
“By frequency-locking two pairs of narrow linewidth lasers and referring to a common quartz oscillator, the researchers generated W-band and D-band signals with stable carrier frequency and reduced phase noise compared to free-running lasers, maximizing the use of spectrum.
By using OFDM format and bit loading, the researchers achieved a 938 Gbps transmission data rate with less than a 300 MHz gap between different RF and mm-wave bands.”
Liu and his team purportedly talk with smartphone manufacturers and network providers about the technology they are developing. Specifically, the team’s development aims to solve the 100 Gbps requirement of next-generation 6G base stations for communication between access points and hubs.
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