Chinese scientists make breakthrough in ultra-wideband photonic-electronic 6G communication

BEIJING -- Chinese scientists have made a breakthrough in ultra-wideband photonic-electronic integrated technology for 6G wireless communication, according to Peking University (PKU).

By leveraging photonic-electronic hybrid integration, a joint research team from PKU and City University of Hong Kong successfully developed an ultra-wideband system capable of high-speed, frequency-tunable wireless transmission -- a world-first achievement that is expected to enhance the reliability and efficiency of future 6G networks.

The team's findings were published online in Nature on Wednesday.

As the next generation of wireless communication, 6G requires high-speed transmission across diverse frequency bands in varying scenarios. However, conventional electronic hardware is typically limited to specific frequency ranges due to differences in design, structure and materials, making it difficult to achieve cross-band or full-spectrum operations.

To address this challenge, the team spent four years developing an ultra-wideband photonic-electronic integrated system.

This system supports high-speed transmission at any frequency between 0.5 GHz and 115 GHz -- a globally leading capability for full-spectrum compatibility. It also features flexible tunability, allowing dynamic switching to secure frequencies when interference occurs, thereby improving communication reliability and spectral efficiency.

"This technology is like building a super-wide highway where electronic signals are vehicles and frequency bands are lanes," explained Wang Xingjun, deputy dean of the School of Electronics at PKU. Previously, signals were crowded into one or two lanes, but now many lanes are available. If one lane is blocked, signals can switch flexibly to another, ensuring faster and smoother communication, Wang said.

Experiments have demonstrated that the system is capable of achieving wireless transmission rates exceeding 100 Gbps, which is sufficient to stream 1,000 simultaneous 8K ultra-high-definition videos, meeting the peak rate requirements of 6G while maintaining consistent performance across the full frequency range.

The research team is now working on increasing the system's integration level to develop intelligent photonic-electronic modules adaptable to various other systems, with aims to minimize size, weight and power consumption.

According to Wang, the future 6G network will feature ubiquitous wireless connectivity. Enhanced with AI algorithms, this new system could enable smarter and more flexible networks capable of real-time data transmission, precise environmental sensing and automatic interference avoidance, ensuring more secure and efficient communication in complex scenarios, he said.