Whilst 5G remains a pipe dream for many users, some organisations have started working on the next-generation 6G network wireless connection. LG, on the other hand, appears to be ahead in the battle, as it announced the successful testing of the wireless transmission and reception of 6G terahertz (THz) data across a distance of 320 metres at a frequency range of 155 to 175 GHz.
The South Korean company carried out the test on September 7 at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in Berlin, Germany. According to LG, this is a significant step toward commercialising 6G THz in both indoor and outdoor urban areas, as the reference cell coverage of base stations for urban macro cells is approximately 250 metres outdoors.
The 6G technology, which uses ultra-wideband frequencies, has a limited range and can suffer from power loss during transmission and reception. To address these issues, LG, Fraunhofer HHI, and the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics (IAF) came together and formed a power amplifier capable of improving transmission strength and a receiver low-noise amplifier that improves incoming signal quality.
The multi-channel amplifier used in the recent demonstration has an output of more than 20dBm, an increase of more than 5dBm over the previous solution LG and Fraunhofer HHI & IAF used. The receiver was also fitted with a low-noise amplifier that greatly reduced the generation of noise during reception.
LG’s latest module design incorporates these new technologies, making it capable of future IC (integrated circuit) fabrication to ease the path toward commercialization.
“With the success of our latest demonstration, we are one step closer to realizing 6G speeds of 1 terabit (TB) per second in both indoor and outdoor urban areas,” said Dr. Kim Byoung-hoon, CTO and executive vice president of LG Electronics.
“LG will continue to cooperate with research institutes and industry innovators to further solidify its leadership in 6G technology. We expect 6G to be a major driver of future business and new user experiences, and there is no place we’d rather be than at the forefront of its development.”
Thecompany has said it will announce the full results of its latest 6G communications test and present an overview of the technology’s development so far at the upcoming 6G Grand Summit, set to take place at the LG Science Park in Seoul on September 23.
The event will take place in collaboration with the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and the Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science (KRISS).
Obviously, this tech is a long way off — it’ll be a few years before there are even discussions about 6G standards, and most of us probably won’t be using it until at least 2030. Compared to 5G wireless networks, 6G will deliver far better data transfer speeds with lower latency and higher reliability.
