Japanese component maker Rohm announced on Monday that it has designed a new chip in collaboration with Osaka University capable of 1.5Gbps wireless data transfers in laboratory testing, and says that transfer speeds up to 30Gbps are theoretically possible. The new tech relies on the 300GHz band — a much higher frequency than used by Wi-Fi (2.4GHz) or 3G (which tops out at around the 2.1GHz mark). The company is calling this a world-first, saying that small chips have never before operated in this frequency range without access to large and power-hungry equipment. While the high-frequency might be totally new, the current speed is bested by the WiGig standard, which currently reaches around 4Gbps using the 2.4, 5, and 60GHz bands. WiGig conforms to the proposed IEEE 802.11/ad standard of 60GHz for high bandwidth, and already has a number of big industry names (including Intel, Cisco, and Broadcom) behind it.
Rohm wireless data chip achieves 1.5Gbps in testing, 30Gbps in theory
A new chip capable of 1.5 Gbps data transfer has been developed by Japanese manufacturer Rohm and Osaka University. Using these very high frequency communications, the team expect that 30Gbps transfers will be possible in time.
A new chip capable of 1.5 Gbps data transfer has been developed by Japanese manufacturer Rohm and Osaka University. Using these very high frequency communications, the team expect that 30Gbps transfers will be possible in time.
You won’t find this technology in your phone any time soon, though — at these high frequencies, interference from the atmosphere prevents the waves travelling more than a few meters. Because of this, Rohm suggests that the new chip would be well-suited to home AV, allowing for high-bandwidth signals well beyond 4K HD to be sent to projectors or TVs without the need for a physical connection. The communication can also be two-way, meaning that Smart TV features could easily be bundled into the signal. Rohm says that it plans to commercialize the technology in time, and that research is ongoing.
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