Samsung and UC Santa Barbara demo 6G Terahertz prototype

by Benedict Chua, Associate Editor

Samsung Electronics, in collaboration with the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), demonstrated a 6G Terahertz (THz) wireless communication prototype which consists of a 16-channel phased-array transmitter and receiver modules. These were driven by CMOS RFICs (Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits), and a baseband unit to process signals with 2GHz bandwidth and fast adaptive beamforming. In the over-the-air test, the prototype system achieved real-time throughput of 6.2 Gbps over a 15-meter distance with adaptive beam steering capability at the Terahertz frequency.

Samsung says the THz band includes an enormous amount of available spectrum, which will enable wideband channels with tens of GHz-wide bandwidth. This could potentially provide a means to meet the 6G requirement of terabits per second data rate. 

Samsung and UCSB researchers have been working closely on the development of a THz phased array. The precise digital beamforming calibration algorithm, developed by Samsung, enables these modules to achieve high beamforming gain.