Samsung achieves major breakthrough in 6G development with Advanced Antenna Technology in 7 GHz band

Samsung Electronics announced recently that it has successfully verified X-MIMO technology in the 7 GHz band.

Samsung's latest 6G breakthrough

Will this bring 6G closer to market?

In collaboration with KT Corporation and Keysight Technologies, Samsung says that it has made an important step forward in 6G wireless technology. The team successfully tested a powerful new antenna system, X-MIMO, in the 7 GHz frequency band. It is a key frequency range under consideration for future 6G networks. In outdoor real-world tests, they achieved download speeds of up to 3Gbps - one of the fastest results so far for this band.

This advancement comes in response to the growing demand for super-fast internet fueled by artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality experiences, and high-speed home internet alternatives. 

While 5G is still rolling out globally, the industry is already preparing for 6G, which promises much faster speeds, greater capacity, lower delays, and better energy efficiency by the year 2030.

X-MIMO or eXtreme multiple-input multiple-output technology is an advanced version of the antenna systems already used in 5G. It packs far more antenna elements into the same physical space by taking advantage of the shorter radio waves in the 7 GHz band. This results in roughly four times more antennas compared to today's 5G setups, allowing much higher data speeds without sacrificing coverage too much.

The 7 GHz band offers a smart middle ground of providing more bandwidth than the common 5G mid-band, but it reaches farther and penetrates buildings better than very high millimeter wave frequencies used in 5G networks.

The tests were conducted outdoors at Samsung Electronics' R&D Campus in Seoul to closely mimic real network conditions. Samsung's 6G prototype base station, equipped with 256 digital connections, sent eight separate data streams at the same time to a single device, hitting that 3Gbps peak speed. Keysight provided specialized testing equipment to measure and confirm the performance accurately.

This test builds on Samsung's long-term 6G research, which began years ago with white papers on smart, AI-powered, and eco-friendly networks. The company is also active in a global group setting for 6G standards.

Experts see the 7 GHz band as a strong foundation for 6G because it can handle the huge data needs of tomorrow's applications - from AI-optimized networks to holographic calls and truly seamless global connectivity.

With standards likely to be finalized around 20230, achievements like this X-MIMO test help speed up the path to real-world 6G networks that could start reaching users in the early 2030s. 

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Source: Samsung