A wireless speed record was set in Germany, where researchers used 240 GHz spectrum to deliver a peak data speed of 40 Gbps over a distance of one kilometer. The speed record is said to equal the transmission of a complete DVD in less than one second.
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The high frequency chip only measures 4 x 1.5 mm². |
Credit for the feat goes to the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics and the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), which said the new world record complements the transmission capacity of optical fiber. "In the future, such radio links will be able to close gaps in providing broadband internet by supplementing the network in rural areas and places which are difficult to access," said the institutes.
Distances of more than 1 kilometer have been covered by using a long-range demonstrator, which KIT set up between two skyscrapers as part of project Millilink. Because the size of electronic circuits and antennas scales with frequency/wavelength, the transmitter and receiver chip are quite small, measuring 4 x 1.5 mm².
Further, the atmosphere in the 200 and 280 GHz frequency range shows low attenuation, enabling broadband directional radio links. "This makes our radio link easier to install compared to free-space optical systems for data transmission. It also shows better robustness in poor weather conditions such as fog or rain", said Jochen Antes of KIT.
For more:
- see this Karlsruhe Institute for Technology release
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