Australia’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Research Centre of Excellence in Melbourne has today unveiled the “GiFi” a prototype chip with an integrated transceiver capable of operating at 60Ghz on the CMOS process, the world’s most widely used semiconductor technology.
Aussie researchers claim world-first chip breakthrough with \'GiFi\' 60Ghz CMOS chip capable of running data at 5Gbps. Credit: Naotakem/Flickr.
According to researchers working on the NICTA Gigabit Wireless Project, the world-first chip breakthrough will enable the wireless transfer of both audio and video data at speeds of up to 5 gigabits per second, which is some ten times the current maximum wireless rate.
Furthermore, the technology should cost only around one tenth of current prices, while its minute sizing will also make the chip perfect for embedding into mobile devices in order to help develop the truly wireless office and home of the future.
“Developing very high frequency radio components in a standard CMOS process and then integrating those components on a single chip has posed challenges in dealing with the inherent limitations of that process for radio circuits,” outlined NICTA CEO Dr. David Skellern.
“Now that NICTA researchers have successfully addressed these challenges, the ICT industry will soon have access to low cost, low power and high broadband chips that will be vital in enabling the digital economy of the future.”
The result of three years of research, design and development, the 60Ghz chip and its low cost, high speed wireless performance could lead to consumers being able to download the entire contents of a high definition DVD down to their PDA (or similar mobile device) from a public kiosk in a matter of seconds before then returning home to watch it via their HD TV.
Speaking with the Sydney Morning Herald, project leader Professor Stan Skafidas said: “I believe in the longer term every consumer device will have this technology,” of the tiny 5mm per-side chip, which functions better than Wi-Fi, is able to transmit data at 5Gbps across distances of up to 10 metres, and is expected to cost only around $10 AUD to manufacture.
According to Professor Skafidas, the new chip will probably require a further 12 months of work before it is declared ready for marketing to the public. He also added that the research team is yet to develop the technology for injecting data into the transceiver.
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