- The transceiver achieves 15 GB/s, far exceeding the bandwidth of existing consumer wireless systems
- Analog signal processing drastically reduces power consumption while maintaining extreme data rates
- Three synchronized sub transmitters replace conventional DACs that use only 230 milliwatts
A new wireless transceiver has achieved data rates that exceed current consumer wireless systems under practical operating conditions.
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine, have reported a wireless transceiver operating in the 140 GHz range that can move data at about 120 Gbps.
This transfer rate translates to about 15 GB/s, which far exceeds current consumer wireless limits.
Push data speeds beyond traditional limits
Wi-Fi 7 is theoretically limited to around 3.75 GB/s (30 Gbps), while 5G mmWave reaches around 0.625 GB/s (5 Gbps).
This places the new transceiver’s 15GB/s (120Gbps) performance at about 300% higher than Wi-Fi 7 and about 2300% higher than 5G mmWave.
A key issue the researchers are addressing is the high power requirements associated with digital-to-analog converters used in traditional transmitters.
At extremely high frequencies, these components become complex, inefficient and difficult to scale to mobile devices.
The team describes this limitation as a DAC bottleneck that limits further speed increases.
Their alternative design replaces a single high-speed converter with three synchronized sub-transmitters working together while consuming only 230mW.
A digital converter capable of a similar throughput will draw several watts, making it impractical for battery-powered hardware.
If traditional methods were used, the battery life of next-generation devices could drop to minutes.
Instead of pushing more computation into digital circuits, the system performs key signal operations in the analog domain.
This approach reduces power consumption while still supporting very high data rates. The future may favor analog methods, at least in the sense that analog computing offers a practical solution.
This transceiver is designed as a single integrated chip rather than an assembly of discrete components.
The chip is fabricated on silicon using a 22nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator process, avoiding the manufacturing complexity associated with leading edge nodes.
This approach is simpler than the 2nm or 18A nodes used by TSMC and Samsung.
It lowers manufacturing difficulty and can facilitate large-scale production compared to experimental technologies tied to the smallest geometries.
The reported speeds approach the fiber links commonly used in data centers, opening up the possibility of short-range wireless replacements for extensive cabling.
Reduced wiring can lower installation costs and improve flexibility in dense server environments.
However, physics still sets limits. Current 5G millimeter wave systems, which can reach up to 71GHz, already suffer from short transmission ranges of around 300 meters.
Operation at even higher frequencies is likely to further reduce coverage, so any widespread deployment will require dense infrastructure and careful planning.
This demonstration shows what is technically achievable, but practical application will depend on range extension, interference management and integration into existing networks.
Via Tom’s hardware
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