As a new spectrum technology, terahertz communication provides a larger transmission bandwidth and meets the demand for higher transmission rates, making it one of the key technologies for 6G communication. Recently, the 25th Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation (CETC) in Beijing completed the first domestic real-time wireless transmission communication experiment of terahertz orbital angular momentum. Using high-precision spiral phase plate antennas, the experiment achieved four different beam mode transmissions in the 110GHz frequency band and completed 100Gbps wireless real-time transmission on a 10GHz transmission bandwidth through the synthesis of the four modes. This maximized bandwidth utilization and provided important support for the development of 6G communication technology in China.
Last week, EDN Electronic Technology Design reported on a new technology in the field of 6G wireless communication developed by Peking University – a new microwave filter chip that overcomes the limitations of traditional electronic devices and enables low-power and multi-functional capabilities on devices with chip-scale sizes. This breakthrough technology is expected to help the next generation of wireless communication technology to effectively transmit data in environments with increasingly crowded signals from devices such as smartphones, autonomous vehicles, connected devices, and smart city infrastructure.
Today on April 19th, 2023, there is further important progress in the research and development of 6G communication technology in China. According to China Aerospace Science and Industry Corp’s 25th Institute (CETC), they have recently completed the first domestic real-time wireless transmission communication experiment of terahertz orbital angular momentum in Beijing, achieving four different beam mode transmissions in the 110GHz frequency band using high-precision spiral phase plate antennas. By synthesizing the four modes on a 10GHz transmission bandwidth, they achieved 100Gbps wireless real-time transmission, maximizing bandwidth utilization and providing important support for the development of 6G communication technology in China.
It is understood that there are only two traditional technologies for backhaul: wireless and fiber-optic. According to global statistics, the vast majority of networks use wireless backhaul, but in China, it is the opposite. Because fiber-optic backhaul is more reliable than wireless, and although fiber-optic backhaul requires the large-scale deployment of communication fibers, the cost of labor and land use itself is not high for China. Therefore, only a few emergency scenarios use wireless backhaul. However, with the rapid development of 5G and the continuous increase in communication rate requirements, mobile communication frequency bands have been expanded to millimeter-wave and higher terahertz frequency bands, signal transmission loss has greatly increased, and base station deployment density will double, making it difficult for operators to bear the cost of an all-fiber network.
In the era of “high-density” 5G/6G communication base stations, traditional fiber-based transport networks will face problems such as high cost, long deployment cycle, and poor flexibility, and wireless backhaul technology will gradually dominate. According to research reports, by 2023, the proportion of base stations worldwide using wireless backhaul will exceed 62%. As a new spectrum technology, terahertz communication can provide greater transmission bandwidth, meet higher transmission rate requirements, and gradually become one of the key technologies for 6G communication. In the future, the peak transmission rate of 6G communication will reach 1 Tbps, which requires further increasing the utilization rate of existing frequency spectrum resources and achieving higher wireless transmission capabilities.
The 25th Institute of China Academy of Aerospace and Aerodynamics has targeted the hot demand for 6G communication since 2021, closely followed the forefront of international communication technology, and selected terahertz orbital angular momentum communication as a new breakthrough direction, realizing multi-channel signal multiplexing transmission in the terahertz frequency band, completing ultra-large-capacity data transmission, and increasing the frequency spectrum utilization rate by more than two times. In the future, this technology can also serve the field of near-distance broadband transmission ranging from 10m to 1km, providing support for high-speed transmission between lunar and Mars landers and rovers, cable-free bus transmission inside spacecraft, and other aerospace applications, and providing information security capabilities for China’s deep space exploration and new spacecraft development.