A consortium of Japanese telecommunications companies, including DOCOMO, NTT Corporation, NEC Corporation and Fujitsu, has formed an alliance to develop high-speed 6G wireless equipment capable of transmitting data at 100 Gbps over a distance of 100 m. This collaboration on near-terahertz device research and development began in 2021 in preparation for the upcoming 6G era, as reported by Interesting Engineering on May 2.
The key difference between 5G and 6G lies in the frequency range of the electromagnetic spectrum utilized by the network. While 5G operates in the sub-6 GHz band and extends into millimeter wave bands around 40 GHz, 6G will require the near terahertz band, operating in the range of 100 – 300 GHz. The significantly higher frequencies of the sub-terahertz range necessitate new wireless equipment, posing challenges that the companies involved in the project had to overcome.
DOCOMO focused on wireless system analysis, NTT on high-end equipment development, NEC on research solutions and Fujitsu on semiconductor technology advancements. Each member company made significant contributions to upgrading sub-terahertz technology. In a recent test, the companies successfully demonstrated super-fast transmission speeds of