China develops world's first 6G chip, download speed 100 times faster than 5G

Leading international organizations in the telecommunications sector have begun laying the first foundations for 6G. In particular, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) plays a role in shaping the vision and building the overall framework for this technology through the IMT-2030 initiative, the official name given to 6G networks.

ITU will identify core requirements such as data transmission speed, latency, security, energy efficiency, as well as potential application scenarios in areas such as smart cities, autonomous vehicles, virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR), and artificial intelligence (AI).

In parallel, the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the organization responsible for developing technical standards for global mobile networks, is also initiating research and discussions on 6G.

3GPP will focus on building connection protocols, transmission methods, optimizing frequency bands, and ensuring compatibility and seamless interaction between 6G and previous mobile technologies such as 4G and 5G.

The collaboration between ITU-R and 3GPP is seen as key to ensuring that 6G is not only a quantum leap forward in speed and performance, but also consistent across the globe. This is especially important as countries and companies compete fiercely to lead the race for next-generation technology.

The world's first chip that can work on all frequencies, paving the way for the future of 6G networks

China has just announced a technological breakthrough by successfully developing the world's first chip that works with all frequencies, which is expected to play an important role in the 6G era.

According to the announcement in the journal Nature, this chip can provide outstanding mobile Internet speeds of up to more than 100 Gbps, nearly 100 times faster than current 5G speeds. What's special is that the chip not only operates on high-frequency bands deployed in urban areas but is also compatible with low-frequency bands used in rural or remote areas. At this speed, users can download a 50GB 8K movie in just a few seconds, an experience that is almost unimaginable for current technology.

Currently, mobile devices operate on different frequency bands and often require separate systems. For example, most smartphones today rely primarily on the mid-band 3 GHz, while satellite systems exploit the high-band around 30 GHz (mmWave).

In the future, advanced 6G applications such as remote surgery or near-zero latency virtual reality experiences may require the 100 GHz band. To fully cover the spectrum from 0.5 GHz to 115 GHz, nine different frequency bands are currently needed. The recent achievement in China is a game-changer, as a single chip the size of a thumbnail can handle this entire spectrum.

According to Shu Haowen, a researcher at Peking University, this is a revolutionary breakthrough: “A single chip now replaces what previously required multiple dedicated devices, truly achieving universal programmability and dynamic frequency adjustment. It creates an unprecedented balance between size, power consumption and performance.”

The highlight of the new chip is its ability to seamlessly switch between frequency spectrums, including low frequencies below 6 GHz, mmWave bands, and even ultra-high Terahertz bands. This means that devices using this chip can easily adapt to any environment. For example, in rural areas, it will automatically use low bands to optimize coverage, and when entering the city, it will switch to mmWave to ensure extremely fast transmission speeds.

While today’s phones are capable of roaming between frequency bands, the reality is much more complicated. A smartphone typically has just one modem chip to process data, but the radio frequency (RF) portion consists of separate components such as transceivers, power amplifiers, and antenna modules for each frequency band.

In other words, each frequency band requires its own hardware to operate. The Chinese invention reduces all that complexity to a single component, a step that could pave the way for devices that are smaller, more versatile, and more energy efficient.

Beyond the technical aspect, developing chips that work across all frequencies is also strategically important in the global race for 6G. “The challenges of 6G development need to be addressed urgently,” said Professor Wang Xingjun of Peking University. “As the demand for connected devices increases rapidly, next-generation networks must leverage the strengths of different frequency bands. High-frequency bands such as mmWave and Terahertz provide extremely large bandwidth and extremely low latency, making them suitable for applications such as virtual reality, remote surgery, and smart industrial systems.”

The advent of a chip that works across all frequencies means that China has a significant advantage in the global race for 6G, which promises not only super-fast connection speeds and flexible coverage, but could also reshape the way mobile devices are designed and operated in the future.

If successfully commercialized, this chip that works on all frequencies will pave the way for a generation of compact, energy-efficient yet powerful connected devices, bringing people closer to the era of instant, unlimited connectivity.

The chip offers data download speeds nearly 100 times faster than current 5G speeds.

A new chip developed in China promises to bring unprecedented leaps in mobile communications technology. According to researchers, the device is capable of providing data speeds nearly 100 times faster than current 5G speeds in the US.

The core of the chip is ultra-compact, measuring just 11mm x 1.7mm, but still ensures stable and seamless communication quality across the entire mobile frequency spectrum. In particular, the chip's frequency switching capability reaches a speed of 180 microseconds, hundreds of times faster than the blink of an eye, enabling almost instantaneous connection when changing network environments.

In terms of performance, the chip's single-channel data transmission speed reaches more than 100Gbps. To put that in perspective, while the average download speed in rural areas in the US is only around 20Mbps, and the maximum speed that 5G users in the US can experience is just over 1Gbps, this chip goes far beyond, achieving speeds nearly 100 times faster than the best 5G experience today.

In addition, the chip also integrates the intelligent ability to detect and switch to a “free channel” if a specific frequency is congested or blocked, helping to maintain a smooth communication experience even in complex environments.

The next step, the team says, is to develop plug-and-play smart communication modules the size of a USB drive that can be easily integrated into smartphones, base stations, drones, and other IoT devices.

Furthermore, this technology also paves the way for the construction of wireless networks that automatically optimize using artificial intelligence, promising to reshape the way the world connects in the 6G era./.