Researchers at University College London (UCL) have set another major landmark having come close to achieving wireless data speeds of 1 terabit per second. This feat crushed the previous record of any Japanese research team by 30% when the British team managed to push 938 Gbps over the air using a combination of radio and light technologies.
Although convenient, wireless data transmission is slower than the optical signal passed through a fiber optic cable. At its absolute fastest, 5G technology reaches around 20 Gbps, though in practice it typically translates into only a few hundred megabits per second. By comparison, Wi-Fi 7 could go up to 40 Gbps. UCL’s most recent breakthrough blasts through these ceilings, showing real potential for wireless technology to get much closer to parity with wired equivalents.
To put this into context, a two-hour 4K movie would download at a pace of 938 Gbps in a tenth of the time it would take on a typical 5G connection, which would take 19 minutes. By merging several wireless technologies, the UCL researchers were able to transmit data at a frequency of up to 150 GHz, which is more than five times faster than the previous wireless record.
For frequencies between 5 and 75 GHz, they used high-speed digital-to-analog converters; for frequencies between 75 and 150 GHz, light-based radio technologies were used. This increased bandwidth eases congestion and greatly increases data transfer speeds.
While these advances bring us closer to revolutionizing wireless data speeds, fiber optics still hold the record for the fastest data transmission, with a staggering 22.9 petabits per second (22.9 million Gbps). Fiber optics are ideal for transmitting vast amounts of data over long distances, such as between continents. However, the real challenge lies in bridging the last few meters between routers and personal devices. Enhancing wireless speeds like those achieved by UCL could transform everyday connectivity, leading to smoother and faster experiences for users.
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