Using a three-dimensional stack of reflectors on a microchip could triple the data rate of wireless links and accelerate the development of 6G communications, a new study has found.
Most current wireless communication technologies, such as 5G phones, operate at frequencies below 6 gigahertz. To improve data rates, researchers are working to develop 6G communications that use frequencies above 20 GHz, achieving data rates 100 times higher than 5G.
However, the higher frequencies expected for 6G will also result in higher transmission attenuation and losses due to the environment. Therefore, most 5G and 6G technologies use arrays of antennas rather than relying on a single transmitter and a single receiver. These arrays must precisely control the delays that the signals may experience to ensure that they do not get jumbled up and arrive when they should. However, the components involved in adding the necessary delay to the signal can also cause problems of their own.
The most common delay element is a phase shifter. Bal Govind, a doctoral student in electrical and computer engineering at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, says these components may be less than 0.3 square millimeters in size, but they Frequencies cannot be delayed equally, Gobind said, and phase shifts can be blurred. The data rate of your wireless network will be severely limited.
In contrast, a true time delay element can delay all frequencies equally over a wide bandwidth, avoiding blurring problems. However, such elements are also physically much larger, typically around 1 to 2 square millimeters in size, Govind says. This means that only a small number of such circuit components can be integrated on a chip, again limiting channel capacity.
But now Govind and his colleagues have developed a way to miniaturize true time delay elements. At just 0.16 square millimeters in size, this new microwave component is smaller than a phase shifter, but it can also act like a true time delay element over a 14 gigahertz bandwidth.
The scientists achieved these results using a 3D spiral of reflectors. The way the signal curves in three dimensions within these vertical stacks causes the delay. At the same time, the 3D nature of the design allows components to be packed closer together, saving space.
“Actual time delays are typically very expensive in terms of chip area,” Govind says. “We propose a solution to this.”
Overall, the researchers estimate that an array of new devices operating within 8 GHz of bandwidth could achieve data rates of more than 33 gigabits per second (Gbps). They point out that this is three times more than a phase shifter and 40 percent more than a true time delay element. They add that this strategy could also be extended to the optical and acoustic domains.
scientists explained in detail their discoveries This week’s diary Nature.
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