Scientists create terahertz transceiver that can handle 80Gbit/s

Japanese scientists have developed a terahertz transceiver that can send and receive data at 80Gbit/s. According to the researchers, the finding is a promising step towards wireless communication via terahertz frequencies.

The transceiver is made on the basis of CMOS technology, which increases the likelihood that the design can be mass-produced in the future, given the experience and implementation of CMOS production techniques in today’s tech sector. The transceiver was developed by scientists from the University of Hiroshima and Panasonic.

The scientists already made a terahertz transmitter in 2017 that could send data at 105Gbit/s, but receiving it turned out to be more difficult. A technique for the transmitter that the researchers call power combining failed on reception. The receiver they developed was therefore able to handle only 32GBit/s. “A fast transmitter is worthless if there isn’t a receiver available that is as fast,” said Professor Minoru Fujishima of the School of Advanced Sciences of Matter at Hiroshima University.

Science is working on the use of terahertz bands for fast mobile connections. In October 2017, the IEEE standard 802.15.3d was published. This regulates the use of the frequency space between 252 and 325GHz. The latter band is the 300GHz band that Panasonic’s transceiver and the science team operate on.

Details about the transmitter/receiver, the researchers will present under the heading An 80Gb/s 300GHz-Band Single-Chip CMOS Transceiver at IEEE International Solid-State Circuits Conference, which takes place this week in San Francisco.