Japan makes breakthrough in 6G technology with data transmission speed up to 100 Gbps

Accordingly, a group of Japanese tech giants, including DOCOMO, NTT, NEC and Fujitsu revealed the results of their real-world 6G speed tests.

This groundbreaking achievement demonstrates the ability of 6G technology to achieve extremely high data transmission speeds of up to 100Gbps, marking an important milestone in the upcoming era of next-generation mobile communication networks after 5G.

The four Japanese tech companies, which have been working together on the project since 2021, have jointly developed a 6G device that operates in high-frequency bands and demonstrated the ability to transmit data at 100Gbps in the 100GHz and 300GHz bands over distances of up to 100 meters. This achievement is particularly notable because it is about 20 times faster than the current 5G maximum data rate of 4.9Gbps.

This data transfer speed is equivalent to streaming five HD movies per second and, according to German online platform Statista, is up to 500 times faster than the average 5G speed for smartphones on T-Mobile's network in the US.

Deployed in 2019, 5G is the most advanced mobile communications standard available today and is already used by almost all new smartphones. The average speed for smartphones on T-Mobile's network in the US is around 204.9 megabits per second (Mbps), while the theoretical maximum 5G speed is at least 10 Gbps.

The main difference between 5G and 6G technologies lies in the frequency bands that these technologies use. 6G networks will support all the frequency bands used by 5G including low-band (below 1 GHz), mid-band (1-7 GHz) and high-band (mmWave band: 24-100 GHz) and will use new frequency bands, especially the sub-Terahertz (THz) band with frequencies from 100 GHz to 300 GHz and the THz band with frequencies from 300 GHz to 3 THz to provide extremely high speeds, possibly up to 1 Tegabit/second (Tbps); extremely low latency, in the order of microseconds.

Sub-THz bands can deliver very high data rates and ultra-low latency, but pose challenges in terms of coverage, mobility, and device power consumption. Potential use cases include fixed-home wireless connectivity, wireless data centers, ultra-precise positioning, and RF sensing.

Transmitting data in high frequency bands “sub-THz” will take advantage of faster speeds but has the disadvantage of being affected by noise sources from the transmission environment, making the signal more likely to be blocked by objects especially in indoor environments.

Cyclically, each new generation of mobile networks is typically deployed every 10 years, and 6G is expected to be commercially deployed by 2030. Some predictions about the 6G network vision expect the completion of the 6G standard and commercialization earlier in countries that have deployed 5G networks early, such as South Korea. Humans and machines will be the main users of 6G networks and will be characterized by the provision of advanced services such as augmented reality, digital twins, etc.

The 6G technology market is expected to enable major improvements in imaging, recognition technology, and precise location recognition. Combined with artificial intelligence technology, 6G computing infrastructure will be able to determine the best place to perform computing, including making decisions about data storage, processing, and sharing.

6G network technology currently has no clear definition and has not been approved by international organizations to become official mobile technology. However, many countries and organizations around the world have planned to invest and research this new technology.