3D Reflector Microchip Could Accelerate Development of 6G Technology for Faster Wireless Communication

The next generation of wireless communication requires greater bandwidth at higher frequencies and a little extra time. In a recent breakthrough, a team of researchers has developed a semiconductor chip that will allow ever-smaller devices to operate at the higher frequencies required for future 6G communication technology.

Challenges in Developing 6G Technology

Most current wireless communications, like 5G phones, operate at frequencies below six gigahertz (GHz). Technology leaders aim to develop a new generation of 6G cellular communications using frequencies above 20 GHz. At this frequency, more bandwidth is available, which means more data can flow faster. 6G technology is also expected to be 100 times faster than 5G.

However, data loss through the environment was found to be greater at higher frequencies. Because of this, one crucial factor in developing 6G technology is how the data is transmitted.

Most 5G and 6G technologies use a more energy-efficient technique instead of relying on a single transmitter and receiver. This technique involves a series of phased arrays of transmitters and receivers.

In the communication band, every frequency goes through various time delays. For many years, experts have addressed the problem of economically transmitting high-bandwidth data. Doing so will allow signals of all frequencies to line up at the right place and time.

The major problem with phased arrays is the tradeoff between making things small enough to put on a chip and maintaining efficiency. If the channel capacity can be boosted by a factor of 10, then it could be a game changer for communications.

Road to Smart Signal Timing

Addressing this challenge has been the goal of experts from Cornell University. The new microchip they developed adds a necessary time delay to allow signals sent across multiple arrays to align at a single point in space without disintegrating. The result of their study is described in the paper "Ultra-compact quasi-true time delay for boosting wireless channel capacity."

The team's goal is not just to build something with enough delay but something with enough delay so that there will still be a signal at the end. The trick is to do it without enormous loss.

Led by Bal Govind, the experts worked with Thomas Tapen to design a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS). This material can tune a time delay over an ultra-broad bandwidth of 14 GHz, with phase resolution as high as one degree.

Since their design aimed to pack as many of these delay elements as possible, Govind and his team imagined what it would be like to wind the signal's path in 3D waveguides. They also aim to bounce signals off them to cause delay instead of spreading wavelength-long wires laterally across the chip.

In this study, a series of 3D reflectors strung together was engineered to create a tunable transmission line. The resulting integrated circuit occupies a 0.13 square-millimeter footprint, smaller than phase shifters but nearly doubles the channel capacity of conventional wireless arrays. By boosting the projected data rate, the microchip can provide faster service and allow more data to be transmitted to cellphone users.