In a potentially promising breakthrough, researchers from Osaka University and IMRA America have unveiled a single-channel optical wireless connection that can reach speeds of up to 240 GB/s, a new world record. The team is now focused on quadrupling this performance to reach an unprecedented speed of 1TB/s.
eeNews Europe reports that the researchers used a stimulated Brillouin scattering laser to generate signals at 300 GHz for 6G networks. This laser uses interactions between sound and light waves to produce an accurate signal.
The team then set up a wireless communications system on the 300 GHz band that uses this laser-based signal generator in both the transmitter and receiver.
Fastest transmission speed in the world
The sub-terahertz band, ranging from 100 GHz to 300 GHz, is the playground for these 6G transmitters and receivers. To further increase the data transmission speed of these wireless connections, the researchers used an advanced approach called “multi-level signal modulation”. However, this method becomes very sensitive to noise when operating at the upper end of these frequencies.
For efficient operation, multi-level signal modulation relies on accurate reference signals. When these signals begin to shift, phase noise negatively impacts the performance of the multi-level signal modulation. To combat this, the system uses online digital signal processing (DSP) to demodulate the signals in the receiver and increase the data rate.
Tadao Nagatsuma, the project leader, proudly announced: “Our team has achieved a single-channel transmission speed of 240 GB/s. This is the highest transmission speed achieved in the world to date using online DSP.”
The researchers are optimistic that with the use of multiplexing techniques, which allow the use of more than one channel, and more sensitive receivers, they can boost data speeds to 1TB/s, paving the way for the next generation of 6G mobile networks. .