

NICT
Beyond 5G R&D Promotion Project
Pioneering Terahertz Coherent Transceivers Using Microactuators
(By NICT's Social Implementation Support Project)
This project will research and develop terahertz band coherent transceivers for higher speed, higher capacity, lower latency, and lower power consumption as a fundamental technology to accelerate the research, development, and deployment of Beyond 5G (B5G) communication infrastructure.
We will also pioneer tuning technology using micro actuators to compensate for performance degradation, achieve maximum communication performance, and increase module efficiency.


プレスリリース資料:https://ssl4.eir-parts.net/doc/6810/ir_material21/202018/00.pdf
(Maxell, ltd.)
What is Beyond5G/6G?
The progress of communication technologies such as cell phones and smart phones has been remarkable, and recently the fifth generation (5G) communication has become available. 5G/6G communication services, called Beyond5G/6G, are expected to be launched in the 2030s.

Kyoya Takano, Keysight World Tokyo 2023
Beyond 5G/6G is expected to realize new features such as "ultra-low power consumption," "scalability of communication coverage," "autonomy," and "ultra-safety and reliability," in addition to further upgrading the features of 5G such as "high-speed and large capacity," "low latency," and "multiple simultaneous connections.

In order to achieve higher speed and larger capacity than 5G communications, Beyond5G/6G is considering the use of a frequency band above 100 GHz in addition to the conventional frequency band.
This band is called the "Terahertz band".

Kyoya Takano, Keysight World Tokyo 2023
Features of the terahertz band
In general, the higher the frequency of radio waves, the greater the amount of information that can be transmitted, but since they approach the characteristics of light, they are more direct and are more susceptible to attenuation by obstacles.

Kyoya Takano, Keysight World Tokyo 2023
Therefore, when terahertz-band radio waves are used for communication, they are more linear than the frequencies below 5 GHz, such as wifi, which we normally use, and there are areas where radio waves are difficult to reach due to their high loss rate.

Another characteristic of terahertz-band radio waves is that they are attenuated by water molecules in the atmosphere. Therefore, when using the terahertz band for communications, the 200 GHz to 300 GHz range is used, which is less susceptible to the effects of water molecules.
In Japan, 252 GHz to 275 GHz is allocated for mobile communications.
