https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-wireless-transceiver-rivals-fiber-optic.html

A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the
University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies
into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data speeds that
rival those of physical fiber-optic cables and laying the
groundwork for a transition to 6G and FutureG data
transmission protocols.

To create the transceiver, researchers in UC Irvine's
Samueli School of Engineering devised a unique architecture
that blends digital and analog processing. The result is a
silicon chip system, comprising both a transmitter and a
receiver, that's capable of processing digital signals
significantly faster and with much greater energy efficiency
than previously available technologies.

. . .

Interesting, the important circuits are analog,
minimal data conversions, lower power req.

Bad thing, I doubt F-band can penetrate even a
cheapo gypsum-board wall.

Now for boxes in a data center room ... yea,
this might be very good.

Where's "sub-space" comms eh ? :-)

'Entanglement' trix might come close ...


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 23/01/2026 02:40, c186282 wrote:

https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-wireless-transceiver-rivals-fiber-optic.html

A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the
University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies
into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data speeds that
rival those of physical fiber-optic cables and laying the
groundwork for a transition to 6G and FutureG data
transmission protocols.

To create the transceiver, researchers in UC Irvine's
Samueli School of Engineering devised a unique architecture
that blends digital and analog processing. The result is a
silicon chip system, comprising both a transmitter and a
receiver, that's capable of processing digital signals
significantly faster and with much greater energy efficiency
than previously available technologies.

. . .

ÿ Interesting, the important circuits are analog,
ÿ minimal data conversions, lower power req.

ÿ Bad thing, I doubt F-band can penetrate even a
ÿ cheapo gypsum-board wall.

Dunno. Certainly a fairly useless WAN protocol.

Light in pipes for fixed locations is simply unbeatable

ÿ Now for boxes in a data center room ... yea,
ÿ this might be very good.

Less secure than optical cables

ÿ Where's "sub-space" comms eh ?ÿ :-)

ÿ 'Entanglement' trix might come close ...

This seems to be 'we made it because we could, but we cant see any use
for it, yet'

--
Future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early twenty-first century?s developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally average temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and,
on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer
projections combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to contemplate a rollback of the industrial age.

Richard Lindzen


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/23/26 06:03, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 23/01/2026 02:40, c186282 wrote:

https://techxplore.com/news/2026-01-wireless-transceiver-rivals-fiber-
optic.html

A new transceiver invented by electrical engineers at the
University of California, Irvine boosts radio frequencies
into 140-gigahertz territory, unlocking data speeds that
rival those of physical fiber-optic cables and laying the
groundwork for a transition to 6G and FutureG data
transmission protocols.

To create the transceiver, researchers in UC Irvine's
Samueli School of Engineering devised a unique architecture
that blends digital and analog processing. The result is a
silicon chip system, comprising both a transmitter and a
receiver, that's capable of processing digital signals
significantly faster and with much greater energy efficiency
than previously available technologies.

. . .

ÿÿ Interesting, the important circuits are analog,
ÿÿ minimal data conversions, lower power req.

ÿÿ Bad thing, I doubt F-band can penetrate even a
ÿÿ cheapo gypsum-board wall.

Dunno.ÿ Certainly a fairly useless WAN protocol.

Light in pipes for fixed locations is simply unbeatable

ÿÿ Now for boxes in a data center room ... yea,
ÿÿ this might be very good.

Less secure than optical cables

ÿÿ Where's "sub-space" comms eh ?ÿ :-)

ÿÿ 'Entanglement' trix might come close ...

This seems to be 'we made it because we could, but we cant see any use
for it, yet'

Likely true alas - a 'college project'.

If the signal can't get through walls then
the 'security' might be OK.

Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
a high frequency - and with the unexpected
analog angle. Maybe some of the principles
can be moved over to laser applications.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 23/01/2026 12:48, c186282 wrote:

This seems to be 'we made it because we could, but we cant see any use
for it, yet'

ÿ Likely true alas - a 'college project'.

ÿ If the signal can't get through walls then
ÿ the 'security' might be OK.

ÿ Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
ÿ a high frequency - and with the unexpected
ÿ analog angle. Maybe some of the principles
ÿ can be moved over to laser applications.

Was not the laser itself originally described as a "solution in search
of a problem"?


--
Mike Scott
Harlow, England

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 23/01/2026 15:50, Mike Scott wrote:

On 23/01/2026 12:48, c186282 wrote:

This seems to be 'we made it because we could, but we cant see any
use for it, yet'

ÿÿ Likely true alas - a 'college project'.

ÿÿ If the signal can't get through walls then
ÿÿ the 'security' might be OK.

ÿÿ Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
ÿÿ a high frequency - and with the unexpected
ÿÿ analog angle. Maybe some of the principles
ÿÿ can be moved over to laser applications.

Was not the laser itself originally described as a "solution in search
of a problem"?

Very much so. It took a fair while to get the cost down to the point
where a laser as a very straight line was affordable. Or to cut wood and plastic. Let alone read a CD...


--
Future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early twenty-first century?s developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally average temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and,
on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer
projections combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to contemplate a rollback of the industrial age.

Richard Lindzen


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:50:39 +0000, Mike Scott wrote:

Was not the laser itself originally described as a "solution in
search of a problem"?

The most disappointing thing is its lack of neat noises -- those have
to be added in a Foley pass.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/23/26 10:50, Mike Scott wrote:

On 23/01/2026 12:48, c186282 wrote:

This seems to be 'we made it because we could, but we cant see any
use for it, yet'

ÿÿ Likely true alas - a 'college project'.

ÿÿ If the signal can't get through walls then
ÿÿ the 'security' might be OK.

ÿÿ Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
ÿÿ a high frequency - and with the unexpected
ÿÿ analog angle. Maybe some of the principles
ÿÿ can be moved over to laser applications.

Was not the laser itself originally described as a "solution in search
of a problem"?

Don't remember. They DID find uses for lasers
very early on. At first it was just for cutting
up stuff, but soon ....

Now they can tweak individual cells in your eyeball.

THIS device ... I suppose in a data-center cavern
you could use it to hook up giant boxes full of
storage to the appropriate CPUs. It'd save routing
lots of fiber-op.

But BEYOND that use ... just don't see much.

The evil bit with RF comms is that the higher the
frequency the poorer the obstacle performance. It
become too much like 'light'. I've several home
devices I connect 2.4ghz because at least they
will connect, whereas with 5ghz there are too
many unseen 'shadows' blocking reception. Slower
is faster if faster won't work.

Future quantum tech, maybe an 'all are one and one
is all" for devices to the moon and beyond. No RF.
We're certainly not there yet.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 24/01/2026 03:36, c186282 wrote:

The evil bit with RF comms is that the higher the
ÿ frequency the poorer the obstacle performance. It
ÿ become too much like 'light'. I've several home
ÿ devices I connect 2.4ghz because at least they
ÿ will connect, whereas with 5ghz there are too
ÿ many unseen 'shadows' blocking reception. Slower
ÿ is faster if faster won't work.

Exactly. Light is orders of magnitude higher frequency so can easily
handle way higher bitrates, and the inconvenience of a physical fibre is offset by its stability and security.


--
"Corbyn talks about equality, justice, opportunity, health care, peace, community, compassion, investment, security, housing...."
"What kind of person is not interested in those things?"

"Jeremy Corbyn?"



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> wrote:

Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
a high frequency - and with the unexpected
analog angle.

That "analog angle" is not unexpected if one knows even a wee bit of RF engineering. For any radio system, once you get to the point of
modulating the actual carrier and the transmit/receive side of things,
it is all analog.

That 'analog' is the result of marketing being dumb as a bag of rocks
and latching onto some word they thought looked "cool" but was really
just "yeah, that part has to be there".

The only 'interesting' part about all of the marketing speak is the
140Ghz, doing 140Ghz (if they really have done so) is impressive.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/24/26 06:14, The Natural Philosopher wrote:

On 24/01/2026 03:36, c186282 wrote:

The evil bit with RF comms is that the higher the
ÿÿ frequency the poorer the obstacle performance. It
ÿÿ become too much like 'light'. I've several home
ÿÿ devices I connect 2.4ghz because at least they
ÿÿ will connect, whereas with 5ghz there are too
ÿÿ many unseen 'shadows' blocking reception. Slower
ÿÿ is faster if faster won't work.

Exactly. Light is orders of magnitude higher frequency so can easily
handle way higher bitrates, and the inconvenience of a physical fibre is offset by its stability and security.

Gotta choose. Running fiber everywhere is a huge
pain in the ass. It's fast, it's reliable, but ...

As so many devices these days are used in an at
least semi-mobile way, if only moved to the other
side of the room, fiber is not a solution here.

Hmmm ... is there a 'shotgun'/multiplex way to
use 2.4ghz to improve the data rate ??? Long
long back there was software for combining
dial-up networking connections into one faster
connection, so the principle isn't alien.

A potential alt is to run copper or fiber to
"the vicinity" and connect it to wi-fi hotspots.
This will improve connectivity but with less
effort/complexity than trying to hard-connect
everything everywhere.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 24/01/2026 17:56, Rich wrote:

c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> wrote:

Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
a high frequency - and with the unexpected
analog angle.

That "analog angle" is not unexpected if one knows even a wee bit of RF engineering. For any radio system, once you get to the point of
modulating the actual carrier and the transmit/receive side of things,
it is all analog.

Well not necessarily. You can synthesise modulated RF with enough
square waves.

Juts run it through a filter afterwards.

That 'analog' is the result of marketing being dumb as a bag of rocks
and latching onto some word they thought looked "cool" but was really
just "yeah, that part has to be there".

The only 'interesting' part about all of the marketing speak is the
140Ghz, doing 140Ghz (if they really have done so) is impressive.

Yes. But optical lasers are a lot higher.

"Optical laser frequencies represent the oscillation speed of
electromagnetic waves in the visible, infrared, or ultraviolet spectrum, generally falling between 400 THz and 700 THz for visible light, with
higher frequencies for UV and lower for infrared."

Laser diodes have been around a while...



--
It is the folly of too many to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house
for the voice of the kingdom.

Jonathan Swift



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.5
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 24/01/2026 17:56, Rich wrote:

c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> wrote:

Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
a high frequency - and with the unexpected
analog angle.

That "analog angle" is not unexpected if one knows even a wee bit of RF
engineering. For any radio system, once you get to the point of
modulating the actual carrier and the transmit/receive side of things,
it is all analog.

Well not necessarily. You can synthesise modulated RF with enough
square waves.

Juts run it through a filter afterwards.

By the time you get to the point of mixing, and filtering, those square
waves, if you intend to drive an antenna (which for a 'new wifi' chip
you do need to eventually drive an antenna) you are back in the analog
domain (and squarely in the black magic of high frequency rf design).

That 'analog' is the result of marketing being dumb as a bag of rocks
and latching onto some word they thought looked "cool" but was really
just "yeah, that part has to be there".

The only 'interesting' part about all of the marketing speak is the
140Ghz, doing 140Ghz (if they really have done so) is impressive.

Yes. But optical lasers are a lot higher.

True, but for an item that is a 'radio' transmitter/receiver, 140Ghz is
quite impressive.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 1/28/26 15:12, Rich wrote:

The Natural Philosopher <tnp@invalid.invalid> wrote:

On 24/01/2026 17:56, Rich wrote:

c186282 <c186282@nnada.net> wrote:

Anyway, it IS interesting they can reach such
a high frequency - and with the unexpected
analog angle.

That "analog angle" is not unexpected if one knows even a wee bit of RF
engineering. For any radio system, once you get to the point of
modulating the actual carrier and the transmit/receive side of things,
it is all analog.

Well not necessarily. You can synthesise modulated RF with enough
square waves.

Juts run it through a filter afterwards.

By the time you get to the point of mixing, and filtering, those square waves, if you intend to drive an antenna (which for a 'new wifi' chip
you do need to eventually drive an antenna) you are back in the analog
domain (and squarely in the black magic of high frequency rf design).

There is an element of 'black magic' in high-freq
analog design, no question.

According to the referenced article they seem to be
using analog more - using analog interactions do some
of the 'logic' more commonly done all-digital-calc
mostly these days.

Digital calx can become EXPENSIVE ... and if you have
to ultimately ultra-filter digital garbage into RF
then that's more expensive yet. Perhaps the SOONER
you can shift from digital to analog is a good thing.

That 'analog' is the result of marketing being dumb as a bag of rocks
and latching onto some word they thought looked "cool" but was really
just "yeah, that part has to be there".

The only 'interesting' part about all of the marketing speak is the
140Ghz, doing 140Ghz (if they really have done so) is impressive.

Yes. But optical lasers are a lot higher.

True, but for an item that is a 'radio' transmitter/receiver, 140Ghz is
quite impressive.

Very impressive.

Wasn't long ago that 5ghz seemed "impressive" :-)

Anyway, this tech now EXISTS ... so where/when/how to
make it USEFUL to somebody somewhere ? Might not JUST
be data transmission either.


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.6
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)