Japanese scientists have demonstrated (lab test) a new low power CMOS wireless transceiver chip that can deliver data speeds of 56Gbps (Gigabits per second), which could be used by mobile operators to replace expensive fibre optic cables to their base stations. But there’s a catch.. distance.
Mobile operators install base stations (radio receiver/transmitters) all over the place in order to help distribute their 3G, 4G and soon 5G signals, which is particularly important in urban areas where simply deploying one big mast isn’t enough because the signal would struggle to get through all the buildings.
The problem is that many of those base stations need to be fed by a physical cable, which is particularly true of larger stations in busy areas (city centres) that need an expensive and often difficult to install fibre optic link in order to keep up with rising local usage and this is where the new solution could help.
Essentially Fujitsu and the Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT) have developed a new Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) wireless transceiver chip, which can harness a broad range of high frequency bands 72 to 100GHz (GigaHertz), and a technology to modularize it.
The result is a new wireless network that has been shown (indoor lab demo) to deliver a top data speed of 56Gbps with loss of maximum 10% between the waveguide and circuit board, albeit only over a distance of just 10cm (centimetres) or about the length of your little finger. Oh.
The Technical Explanation
Tokyo Institute of Technology developed a technology for broadband, low-loss transceiver circuits in which data signals are split in two, with each converted to different frequency ranges, and then recombined. Each signal is modulated into a band 10-GHz wide, with the low-band occupying the 72-82GHz range, and the high-band occupying the 89-99GHz range.
This technology enables modulation on an ultra-wideband signal of 20GHz, with low noise and a similar range in the ratio between input and output power as existing 10GHz band methods, which results in high-quality signal transmissions.
Tokyo Institute of Technology also developed an amplifier to send and receive as radio waves signals converted to the millimeter-waveband (30-300GHz). The ultra-wideband amplifier for 72 to 100GHz was designed with circuit technologies that stabilize the amplification ratio by feeding the amplitude of the output signal back to the input side for signal components whose amplification ratio decreases based on frequency.
In fairness all lab tests of new communications technologies start out in a similar fashion and the distance will no doubt be significantly improved upon, such as via the use of high-output amplifier technology, in time for its first commercial launch in 2020.
It’s worth pointing out that 56Gbps is currently one of the “fastest wireless transmission speeds in the world,” albeit over 10cm.. for now. Solutions like this will no doubt be needed in order to help keep pace with the future demands of new 5G based Mobile Broadband connectivity, which is also due for commercial introduction around 2020-2022.
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