'full-spectrum' 6G chip developed

 Scientists develop 'full-spectrum' 6G chip capable of transferring data at 100 gigabits / second 

Researchers have developed a 6G chip which uses a dual electro-photonic approach to send signals across nine radio-frequency bands. Current devices lack the components needed to tap into different radio frequency bands. Scientists in the United States and China have developed a full-spectrum 6G chip capable of transferring data at 100 gigabits per second. A tiny 6G chip which could make slow and unreliable data speeds in the countryside a thing of the past, and it's hundreds of times faster than your smartphone's current download speeds. 5G is the current gold standard for wireless communications, and it typically uses frequencies below 6 gigahertz, although this varies from country to country. The top-performing cellular network in the US in the first half of 2025 offered a 5G download speed of 299.36 megabits per seconds.

The 6G chip which uses a dual electro-photonic approach to send signals across nine radio-frequency bands is projected to be 10,000 times faster than 5G. The devices will need to be re-engineered. Current devices lack the components needed to tap into different radio frequency bands. 6G, which experts say will be ready in 2030, is expected to use multiple frequency bands and has the potential to be 10,000 times faster than 5G. The trouble with tapping into 6G, however, is that devices will need multiple components to tap into the different radio-frequency bands, something which modern devices lack. Scientists use quantum machine learning to create semiconductors for the first time, and it could transform how chips are made. Researchers have integrated the entire wireless spectrum covering nine radio-frequency (RF) bands, from 0.5 to 110 GHz, into a chip measuring just 0.07 by 0.43 inches (1.7 by 11 millimeters).

A new study published in the journal Nature found that experts have integrated the entire wireless spectrum covering the radio frequency band into the chip. The new chip is also capable of achieving a data transmission rate of more than 100 gigabits per second, including on low bands used in rural areas, where speeds can be very slow. Communication also remained stable across the entire spectrum, the researchers found. To put this data speed into context, 1,000 smartphones embedded with the chip could stream an 8K ultra-high-definition video simultaneously without weaker performance, according to Chinese state media Xinhua. This "one-size-fits-all hardware solution," as the scientists described it in the study, could be reconfigured dynamically to switch the frequency band depending on when this is required. This is important because devices tapping into 6G are going to utilize different wireless spectra, from microwave, millimeter wave (mmWave) to terahertz (THz) bands, the researchers noted.

It further revealed that the new chip measuring 0.07 by 0.43 inches is capable of transferring data at over 100 gigabits per seconds, including on lower bands used in rural areas. High-frequency mmWave and sub-THz bands, between 100 GHz and 300 GHz, will be used for applications which require extremely low latency, such as high-speed artificial intelligence (AI) computing and remote sensing. But sub-6 GHz and microwave bands are still needed to provide coverage across wide areas, the scientists explained. The researchers' new chip could potentially replace multiple systems by taking a dual electro-optic approach, using light to generate stable signals across the RF spectrum. A broadband electro-optic modulator converts wireless signals into optical signals, which are then passed through tunable optoelectronic oscillators, these circuits use light and electricity to generate radio frequencies, from the microwave band to the THz band.

The problem with current wireless hardware, the scientists said, is that it's designed to operate within a narrow frequency. As it stands, rolling out 6G would require several different systems for different bands, which would make wide-scale deployment costly and complex. The scientists made their chip from thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), instead of traditional lithium niobate, which is used to modulate light at high speeds. TFLN has become the go-to for next-generation telecommunication hardware because of its ability to deliver higher bandwidths at a lower latency. When 6G is rolled out and more people demand more data, cellular networks will inevitably become crowded, like 5G networks are at peak times. Higher traffic could lead to congestion and slower data speeds. The new system avoids interference by using what the researchers describe as "adaptive spectrum management." Normally signals are crammed into one or two frequency bands, but with this new chip, signals can switch between multiple frequencies without data transmission being compromised. This could reduce the likelihood of signalling issues at big events or in crowded spaces, where tens of thousands of devices connect to a network simultaneously.

Chinese state media outlet Xinhua put the chip’s capability into perspective, stating: “1000 smartphones embedded with the chip could stream an 8K ultra-high-definition video simultaneously without weaker performance.”  While Wang and his co-authors believe their 6G "full-spectrum" chip has the potential to be embedded into all compatible devices, plenty of work needs to be done to build out the infrastructure for the next generation of wireless communications. "This technology is like building a super-wide highway where electronic signals are vehicles and frequency bands are lanes," study lead author Wang Xingjun, associate dean of the School of Electronics at Peking University, said.