The mobile device market is increasingly expanding its user base, with people worldwide using cell phones to access the internet. As the number of connected devices to the internet increases, there arises a dire need for much faster internet technology. Further, now machines will soon start to communicate with each other over the Internet of things. Due to these reasons, players in the market need to ensure a powerful wireless network that can bear the brunt of large volumes of data transfer.
A team has now developed a new multiplexer with the help of pure silicon for terahertz-range communications in the 300-GHz band. This is a groundbreaking development in the 6G Technology Market as the unique design of ultra-small silicon chips will lead to effective management of terahertz waves. These waves are of utmost importance as they hold the key to next-generation communications of 6G levels and beyond. Terahertz waves constitute a part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which boasts of a raw spectral bandwidth that far exceeds the capabilities of wireless communications (based on microwaves). The research team has developed a novel, efficient, and ultra-compact terahertz multiplexers with the help of a unique optical tunneling process. The team revealed that the shape of the chip is the most noteworthy aspect of the innovation as it might be the key to combining and splitting channels. This will enable one to process data much more quickly.
The new Multiplexer has a spectral bandwidth of about 30 times the total spectrum for 4G/LTE allocated in Japan. This includes the currently available fastest mobile technology and 5G, which is considered to be the next generation. Furthermore, bandwidth is primarily related to data rate; thus, the new Multiplexer can facilitate ultra-high-speed digital transmission. The researchers stated that their four-channel multiplexer could aggregate a data rate of 48 (Gbit/s), which is equivalent to streaming an uncompressed 8K ultrahigh definition in real-time. The team also has the further ambition to make the entire system portable by integrating the Multiplexer with resonant tunneling diodes, which will lead to compact, multi-channel terahertz transceivers.
The team employed a pretty basic modulation scheme, wherein terahertz power was switched on and off to transport binary data. There are even more advanced technologies available in this regard that can successfully squeeze even higher data rates towards 1 Terabit/s into a given bandwidth allocation. The new Multiplexer has several advantages and can be mass-produced, which would make large-scale market penetration possible.