From radios to core networks, a consensus is forming that 6G needs to offer more focused technology than 5G, or is it more technology? Energy, spectrum, and AI top the list of what 6G needs. EE World spoke with four engineers who attended the March 3GPP meeting in Korea. Here’s what they had to say.…
Long-wire dipole antennas: still viable after more than a century
The long-wire dipole antenna is effective for low-frequency systems. Adding LC traps makes a single-band dipole antenna into a multiband unit. The historically significant long-wire dipole antenna may seem like an anachronism in these days of compact, highly mobile wireless devices operating in the gigahertz spectrum, but that’s not the case at all. Due to…
Software simulates RF conditions from the Earth to the Moon
Wireless InSite 4.0 from Remcom lets you simulate wireless channel conditions and analyze them based on antenna movement. Remcom announced a new version of Wireless InSite 3D Wireless Prediction Software with advanced capabilities including time-based mobility, lunar propagation modeling, and wideband ray-tracing with S-parameter outputs. Release 4.0 expands support for simulating dynamic and complex RF…
What’s the difference between a VCSEL and PCSEL?
A vertical cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) relies on a three-dimensional (3D) structure for light emission. A photonic crystal surface-emitting laser (PCSEL) incorporates a 2D photonic crystal (PhC) layer to manipulate light emission. Those structural differences lead to different performance and application possibilities. An obvious difference between the various types of semiconductor lasers is the beam…
What is DRX (Discontinuous Reception) in LTE?
Discontinuous Reception (DRX) is a power-saving mechanism in LTE networks designed to extend the battery life of user equipment (UE), such as smartphones. This FAQ will begin by explaining the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) role in LTE from the DRX perspective. Then, it will illustrate the complete DRX process with short/long DRX cycles and…
What is precoding? What does it do?
Precoding is a signal processing technique that modifies the phases and amplitudes of wireless signals to combat channel distortion and optimize the quality and reliability of data transmissions. It can support beamforming in multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) and massive MIMO antenna arrays. This article reviews some of the benefits of precoding, looks at how it’s implemented,…
Cable assembly brings signal close to high-speed digital devices
The Si-Fly cable assembly from Samtec lets you mount connectors to a board while going under cooling components. High-speed digital ICs such as microprocessors, GPUs, ASICs, and electrical-to-optical converters need clean signals, and they generate lots of heat. To minimize the PCB traces where signals travel, engineers need to mount cables as close to the…
FAQ on the bias tee
A conceptually simple passive component is used to combine or split DC and RF signals; however, its implementation has many subtleties. The RF world, operating at hundreds of megahertz and into the gigahertz range, is known for having many unusual components. Some are unique to that higher-frequency world, while others appear at lower frequencies but…
OFC 2025: AI, power, and 1.6T
San Francisco — At last year’s OFC 2024, the next speed of optical connections (1.6T) was all talk with one exception. In a back room, Keysight demonstrated a 1.6T optical link between an arbitrary waveform generator and a bit-error-rate tester. The demonstration was a transmission of raw, unstructured bits. One thing was clear, AI was…
How 5G network slicing works: part 2
Network slicing, which makes private networks possible, provides enterprises with dedicated network resources. It works by interacting with a set of network functions. Part 1 of this series covered how 5G network slicing enables operators to deploy, modify, and scale customized virtual networks, along with key slicing techniques and connectivity models. Part two discusses the…