- Transceiver achieves 15 Gb/s, far exceeding the bandwidth of existing consumer wireless systems
- Analog signal processing dramatically reduces power consumption while maintaining extreme data rates
- Three synchronized sub-transmitters replace conventional DACs, consuming just 230 milliwatts
A new wireless transceiver has achieved data rates that exceed those of current consumer wireless systems under practical operating conditions.
Researchers at the University of California, Irvine have reported a wireless transceiver operating in the 140 GHz range and capable of moving data at around 120 Gbps.
This transfer rate translates to approximately 15 GB/s, far exceeding current consumer wireless limits.
Pushing data speeds beyond traditional limits
Wi-Fi 7 is theoretically limited to around 3.75 GB/s (30 Gbps), while 5G mmWave tops out at around 0.625 GB/s (5 Gbps).
This puts the new transceiver’s 15 Gbps (120 Gbps) performance around 300% higher than Wi-Fi 7 and around 2,300% higher than 5G mmWave.
A central problem addressed by the researchers is the high power demand associated with digital-to-analog converters used in traditional transmitters.
At extremely high frequencies, these components become complex, inefficient and difficult to adapt to mobile devices.
The team describes this limitation as a DAC bottleneck that limits further speed increases.
Their alternative design replaces a single high-speed converter with three synchronized subtransmitters that work together while consuming only 230 mW.
A digital converter capable of similar throughput would consume several watts, making it impractical for battery-powered hardware.
If traditional methods were used, the battery life of next-generation devices could drop to minutes.
Instead of pushing more calculations into digital circuits, the system performs key operations on signals in the analog domain.
This approach reduces power consumption while supporting very high data rates. The future may favor analog methods, at least in the sense that analog computing offers a practical solution.
This transceiver is designed as a single integrated chip rather than a collection of discrete components.
The chip is fabricated on silicon using a 22nm fully depleted silicon-on-insulator process, avoiding the manufacturing complexity associated with cutting-edge nodes.
This approach is simpler than the 2nm or 18A nodes used by TSMC and Samsung.
This reduces manufacturing difficulties and can facilitate large-scale production compared to experimental technologies related to smaller geometries.
Reported speeds approximate those of fiber optic links commonly deployed in data centers, opening the possibility of short-range wireless replacements for extensive cabling.
Reduced cabling could reduce installation costs and improve flexibility in very compact server environments.
However, physics still imposes limits. Current 5G millimeter wave systems, which can reach up to 71 GHz, already suffer from short transmission ranges of around 300 meters.
Operating at even higher frequencies is likely to further reduce coverage, so any large-scale deployment would require dense infrastructure and careful planning.
This demonstration shows what is technically feasible, but practical adoption will depend on extending range, managing interference, and integrating into existing networks.
Via Tom’s material
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