The electromagnetic spectrum that carries mobile communication is becoming like an over-crowded highway. But there’s an under-used band of spectrum that could make a big difference. Researchers at KTH have developed a way to unlock the Terahertz band for commercial applications in 5G and beyond.
A new way to exploit the terahertz (THz) radio spectrum could prove cost-effective and reliable enough to commercialise new, under-used frequencies for high volume applications for 5G and beyond.
Developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, a new generation of methods and micro hardware is currently being used in a testbed by networks supplier Ericsson to run a fully-functional wireless link operating between 110-170 GHz at its Lindholmen lab facility in Sweden.
Lead author, James Campion from the Department of Micro and Nanosystems at KTH, says the solution involves exploiting silicon to create affordable, scalable alternatives to existing hardware solutions. The authors reported their results recently in IEEE Transactions on Terahertz Science and Technology.
“We introduce the first integration of silicon-germanium active circuitry with silicon-micromachined waveguides,” he says. “And for the first time, industrial-grade processes are being used to manufacture all system components, with automated assembly of the THz systems.”
Source: “System could unlock THz band for 5G and more”, David Callahan, KTH Royal Institute of Technology
