In a leap toward truly global connectivity, scientists in the Chinese mainlandled by a joint team from Peking University and City University of Hong Konghave built an ultra-wideband photonic-electronic integrated system that could become the backbone of 6G networks. Their study, published in Nature on Wednesday, marks a world-first in combining photonics and electronics for high-speed, multi-band wireless transmission.
6G technology needs to transmit massive amounts of data across diverse environments and frequency bands. Traditional circuits, however, often get bottlenecked when juggling multiple bands. To break through this limit, the team engineered a system that spans frequencies from 0.5 GHz all the way to 115 GHzessentially opening a super-wide data highway where signals can switch lanes on the fly to avoid congestion.
Wang Xingjun, deputy dean of the School of Electronics at Peking University, likens the new approach to a multi-lane expressway: electronic signals act as vehicles and frequency bands as lanes. Instead of squeezing into a few busy channels, signals can now switch to clear paths for uninterrupted data flow.
Lab tests showed the platform can sustain wireless transmission rates exceeding 100 gigabits per secondfast enough to stream over 1,000 simultaneous 8K videos without hiccups. That performance not only meets but could surpass the peak data rate requirements expected for 6G networks, all while maintaining stable connections across its entire frequency range.
Looking ahead, the researchers are miniaturizing the design, aiming to shrink size, weight and power draw. By plugging in AI-driven control algorithms, future versions could self-optimize for real-time data routing, environmental sensing and automatic interference avoidancepaving the way for smarter, more secure 6G networks in everything from autonomous vehicles to remote surgery.
Reference(s):
Chinese scientists make breakthrough in 6G wireless communication
cgtn.com
