Fujitsu makes terahertz receiver small enough for smartphones

Fujitsu is touting its new receiver that operates in the terahertz band -- frequencies over 300 GHz -- where terminals can communicate at speeds hundreds of times faster than today's mobile handsets, reports IEEE Spectrum.

To create the module, Fujitsu micro-fabricated a printed-circuit substrate using a polyimide (heat-resistant synthetic polymer) material. Signals from the antenna are transmitted to the receiver-amplifier chip through a connecting circuit on the substrate. To ensure stable signal transmission with low loss, the top and bottom faces of the printed circuit substrate are grounded and connected using through-hole metalized vias.

In lab tests, Fujitsu says it was able to achieve speeds of 20 Gigabits per second with the terahertz prototype receiver, which is small enough to fit into a smartphone. In fact, the company says the receiver can download 4K and 8K video almost instantly.

The device will be in field tests by the end of March 2016 and the company aims to launch the technology in 2020. Part of the research used was obtained from an R&D project on expanding radio spectrum resources commissioned by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications. Article