Panasonic Corporation, in conjunction with researchers at Hiroshima University and the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, have created the world’s first terahertz wireless transmitter, which should theoretically be capable of achieving wireless speeds of up to 100 gigabits per second. The transmitter would be able to net these record-shattering speeds over satellite, on the 300 gigahertz frequency. The kicker is that it can achieve this over a single channel, meaning that multi-channel operations may well be able to approach terabit speeds, with proper optimization. Exactly what kind of optimizations could take place on such a connection, as well as what apparatus may be compatible with it, are a mystery for now. The researchers responsible for creating the transmitter have announced that they will be giving more information on the technology behind it at San Francisco’s International Solid-State Circuits Conference, which happens between February 5th and 9th this year.
The first transmitter created with the new terahertz technology has thus far managed to hit 105 gigabits per second in lab testing, using a single wireless band and channel. The transmitter can operate in the range of 290 to 315 gigahertz, and will thus likely have a place at the table in 2019’s World Radiocommunication Conference, where possible uses and allocations for the 275 to 450 gigahertz range will be discussed. The frequencies used are currently not commonly used in mobile devices, but if adopted, could actually lead to upcoming 5G standards being rendered mostly obsolete shortly after their planned wide adoption in 2020, or perhaps even a bit before, depending on how adoption of this new terahertz transmission standard goes.
The new terahertz transmitter is actually a more advanced version of a transmitter developed by the same team of researchers and corporate elements, which debuted last year. The previous transmitter’s performance was roughly one tenth of this one, meaning that last year’s transmitter, which has not really had time to catch on for wide use yet, is already obsolete. It is unclear at this time if further development is possible, but the fact that the researchers involved plan on debuting the transmitter publicly at this year’s ISSCC conference is a good sign for future adoption and use.
